It is December which means sweets are everywhere!  Every party you go to has an amazing dessert table.  Heck, I even find candy canes randomly around my house and am left to wonder where they came from.  I can only handle so much peppermint, gingerbread or cinnamon though.  Sometimes, I just want chocolate and non-holiday flavors.  So, for the recent potluck I was attending, I decided to buck the trend of peppermint treats and not make anything really holiday related.  Instead, I made salted caramel M&M bars.

These bars are so delicious but oh so easy to make…a.k.a. my kind of baking!  You just combine some basic ingredients like cookie dough, oats and caramel sauce with M&Ms and you have a treat that no one can resist.  They are perfect for the holidays or anytime of year.

Ingredients for Salted Caramel M&M Bars:

1 1/2 rolls of chocolate chip cookie dough (the 16.5 oz size)
1 1/4 cup quick oats
2/3 cup salted caramel sauce
4 1/2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup plain m&ms
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp kosher salt

Let’s Make It:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2)  Combine the cookie dough and oats together in a large mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Reserve 3/4 cup of the cookie dough mixture.  Press the remaining cookie dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

3)  Mix the salted caramel sauce and flour together; stirring well.  Set aside.

4)  Once the cookie dough “crust” is done, remove it from the oven and pour the M&Ms over the top of the baked cookie dough.

Top with the caramel sauce mixture.

Then, crumble the reserved 3/4 cup of cookie dough over the top of the caramel.  Sprinkle the top of the cookie dough with 2 tsp of kosher salt.  Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.  Let cool completely before cutting.

**Warning:  These are messy because the caramel is so gooey and delicious.  Serve with napkins!**

What is your favorite sweet treat?  Do you bake with M&Ms a lot or just enjoy them as a delicious snack?
You could easily change this recipe up and use Peanut M&Ms as well but I would increase the amount to 1 1/2 cups since they are larger than the traditional milk chocolate M&Ms.