National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week: Confetti Cake Batter CCC Bars

In my younger-mom days, when elementary school holiday parties were a thing I had to do a lot, I made a preemptive strike at Christmastime one year. 

Weeks ahead of my daughter's class party, I volunteered to provide cut-out sugar cookies for the "cookie decorating station." I thought this would save me the trauma of a night-before phone call from her teacher. My offer was accepted, with one caveat: I needed to use the cookie cutter Mrs. H would supply. I assumed she just wanted all the kids to have the same-sized cookie and agreed.

A few days later, my daughter brought home the required cutter. It was Christmas-tree shaped. It was, in fact, very nearly life-sized Christmas-tree shaped. 

I quadrupled my sugar cookie recipe and started baking. And baking. And baking.

This story actually has almost nothing to do with the rest of this post, but it has allowed me to put off introducing the last recipe in this National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week series: Confetti Cake Batter CCCs. The first time I made this recipe and took the pan out of the oven, my tween said, "That looks like a carnival exploded in the best possible way." Which seems to make these a fitting candidate for a finale. 

And I will say that these bar cookies are perfect if you happen to get a last-minute call for party treats. Stir up the dough, slap it in a pan, bake it off, and divvy it up. You don't even need a life-sized Christmas tree cutter to do it.

Confetti Cake-Batter Cookie Bars {print}

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups dry yellow cake mix without pudding in it (I use Duncan Hines)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup multicolored sprinkles, plus additional as needed (I get mine at the dollar store)
1/2 cup mini M&Ms (it does need to be the mini version here...I find that my beloved Target has the best price on these)
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat a 9x13 baking pan or a quarter sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, dry cake mix, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. 

In a small dish, mix the 1/4 cup sprinkles and the M&Ms. Set aside 1/4 cup. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter for about 30 seconds. Add both sugars and beat a minute or two until fluffy. Add the oil (measure it first), then the corn syrup (which will slip right out of your tablespoon if you measured the oil first), then the egg and vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until everyone seems to be getting along.

Dump the combined dry ingredients on top of the butter mixture and beat just until all the dry is in the party. Stir in the mini chocolate chips and the sprinkle/M&M mixture (minus your reserved 1/4 cup) by hand. This might take some muscle.

Plop large spoonfuls of your dough around your prepared pan, then spread evenly. Sprinkle on your reserved "confetti" mixture and press lightly with a spoon or your offset spatula. 

If your bar cookies do not look carnival-y enough for you, dress them up with some extra sprinkles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or just until puffed in the center and starting to crack. The old toothpick test doesn't really work here: if you bake these until one tests clean, you will have less of a bar cookie and more of a very colorful concrete slab. Gooey is good in this case.

Cool on a wire rack for at least a couple minutes. Eat while warm if possible. If you need to store them, cool completely first, then cover the pan tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and foil. 

Now, I really want to know: what's your favorite make and model of chocolate-chip cookie? (No disrespect intended here, but carob chip with kale puree need not apply. I'm sorry, but this just isn't that kind of blog.)

Thanks for coming along on this little tour through CCC land! And don't forget: there's still the rest of National Fresh Celery Month to celebrate.

You're looking for the rest of the posts from this series? Aw, thanks! Here they are...
Day 1: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Day 2: White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Day 3: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Day 4: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies