Easter Cookie Bars
If you need a last-minute Easter dessert that still feels festive and adorable, these Easter Cookie Bars are about to become your new go-to.
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Welcome back to The Secret Crunch, baking besties! My name is Lisa, and I am a self-appointed butter mom who loves to whip-up something sweet on a daily basis. My mom taught me everything I know in the kitchen, and my goal is to the same for you!
Today, I’m sharing my recipe for Easter Cookie Bars. They’re soft, chewy, packed with chocolate chips, and topped with colorful candy-covered chocolate eggs that make them perfect for spring. The best part? Everything mixes together in one bowl using a simple cake mix base, which means almost no effort and very little cleanup.
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Why You’ll Love These Easter Cookie Bars
These cookie bars are soft in the center, lightly crisp around the edges, and loaded with chocolate in every bite.
Using yellow cake mix and instant vanilla pudding gives the bars an incredibly tender texture and rich flavor without needing a long list of ingredients. It’s one of those baking shortcuts that just works.
Cookie Bars vs Blondies: What’s the Difference?
Some people might look at these and think they resemble blondies, but I personally consider them cookie bars.
Blondies are typically made from a butter-based batter that’s similar to brownie batter but without cocoa powder. They usually rely on brown sugar and melted butter for their signature chewy texture.
These bars, on the other hand, behave much more like a giant cookie baked in a pan. The cake mix base gives them that soft cookie texture rather than the dense, fudge-like structure you’d expect from a blondie.
This Batter is Very Thick
Don’t be alarmed: when you mix together the ingredients for my Easter Cookie Batters, the batter will be very thick. This is normal, and it may actually be one of the thickest batters you work with.
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Because the dough is so thick, it won’t spread easily in the pan. The easiest trick is to lightly wet the back of an offset spatula before smoothing the dough into your parchment-lined baking pan. The moisture prevents sticking and makes it much easier to press the batter into an even layer.
My Favourite Candy Eggs to Use
For the classic Easter look and flavor, I like using candy-covered chocolate eggs.
My two favourite options are Cadbury Mini Eggs and Hershey’s Eggies. Both give that perfect crunchy candy shell with chocolate inside, and they add a beautiful pop of pastel color once the bars are sliced.
You can gently press them into the top of the dough before baking so they stay visible after the bars come out of the oven.
Easter Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 pack yellow cake mix
- 1 pack vanilla instant pudding powder
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Candy-covered chocolate eggs such as Cadbury Mini Eggs or Hershey’s Eggies
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides so the bars are easy to lift out after baking.
- In a large bowl, mix together the yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding powder, water, vegetable oil, and eggs until combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and press it into an even layer. Because the dough is thick, lightly wet the back of an offset spatula to help smooth it into the pan.
- Press candy-covered chocolate eggs onto the top of the dough.
- Bake for 22–25 minutes, or until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before lifting them out using the parchment paper and slicing into squares.
