Oatmeal M&M Blondies (for, um, really early Easter?)

Easter is now  about a month away–and I’ve already baked Oatmeal M&M Blondies for the occasion.

Easter Oatmeal M&M Blondie

Easter Oatmeal M&M Blondie

I admit that I normally leave anything holiday-ish until–oh, about 30 seconds before the date, which means that none of my readers really has time to try it (my apologizes).   But the pastel M&Ms in the holiday candy aisle lured me in and who can procrastinate with a bag of pink and green M&M’s on the countertop?

Easter M&Ms

Easter M&Ms

I grew up eating Blondies for Thanksgivings which my aunt made for our annual visit.  When I first tried them I couldn’t believe that any bar cookie without chocolate could possibly taste that good!  So despite the fact that I’ve added chocolate to mine, they really are just plain good.

My middle daughter–the daughter formerly-known-as-my-picky-daughter (“Mo-om, you can’t teach me to like really good, healthy, food, then call me picky for that”) declared the blondies “seriously dangerous.”  I knew what she meant since I had eaten two before I even took out the camera–what kind of food blogger does that!

M&M Blondies in Pan

M&M Blondies in Pan (Mostly)

I did encounter one gotcha as I researched this topic–the basic recipe is not particularly healthy.  So I did a search on “oatmeal blondies” and found that many sites had pretty much the same recipe with a cup of oatmeal added. I also dropped the sugar by 1/4 cup (based on feedback in comments) and added an extra egg to make sure they were still fluffy enough. Done!

Oatmeal M&M Blondie

Oatmeal M&M Blondie

M&M Blondies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup M&M’s (half of a 12 oz pkg) – consider the holiday colors!

Directions

1.  Melt butter.  Add brown sugar and mix well.  Blend in beaten egg and vanilla extract.

Blondies - Mix liquid ingredients

Blondies – Mix liquid ingredients

2.  Mix flour, oatmeal and baking soda together, then add to butter mixture.

Blondies add dry ingredients

Blondies add dry ingredients

3.  Blend in 1/2 cup of M&M’s.  Pat into 8 x 8 pan lined with parchment or aluminum foil.  Top with remaining 1/4 cup M&M’s pushing them slightly in to batter.

blondies-step-3

4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

blondie-bunny

24 thoughts on “Oatmeal M&M Blondies (for, um, really early Easter?)

  1. Kathy

    Inger, These are such lovely looking snack cookie bars! My grandchildren are coming for a visit next week maybe these will be on the menu!!

    1. iwilkerson Post author

      They are quick and easy too–they might be fun to do with the kids (I can just picture the M&M stealing 😉 )

  2. grace

    holidays always seem to sneak up on me too! i love using oatmeal in my drop cookies and bar cookies, and the pretty pastel m&ms are a great touch!

    1. iwilkerson Post author

      I have a hard time believing holidays sneak up on you Grace! Your treats are always so inspired!

    1. Inger Wilkerson

      Yes, wordpress has suddenly decided to mark everything as spam (including my own comments), so I am having to siphon everything out of the spam folder manually, while I try to figure out what is going wrong.

  3. Barbara

    Those are adorable…and I love your bunnies! I worked ahead for Easter too…and then went to a closet and discovered a set of bunnies I’ve had for years. I hadn’t added them to my Easter post, so think I will arrange them, take a photo and just add a second photo to the post.

  4. Edible Celebrations (@lavesta)

    Good morning Inger,

    Hope all is well with you:) Easter is a bit early this year but it sure isn’t feeling Spring like yet. However, I happen to adore Blondies and yours look mighty festive. I may just bake them up to celebrate day light savings time this weekend!

    Thanks so much for sharing…

    1. Inger Wilkerson

      Hope you are well too Louise!

      You know, last fall I planted some bulbs in pots and stored them in the spare fridge all winter. I am just getting the first growth and soooo happy I did this now! (If I actually get nice flowers this will be a fall post). Hopefully that tides me over until real spring arrives!

      Thanks for the daylight savings time reminder–I am still not used to the earlier switch.

    1. Inger Wilkerson

      I may be posting a St Patrick’s Day recipe after this alas. But the Children’s Choir is looking for holiday themed treats to sell at their upcoming concert so I am in full-fledged holiday mode!

  5. Karis' Kitchen

    This is my favorite part of your post – “I couldn’t believe that any bar cookie without chocolate could possibly taste that good!” I can’t tell you how many times people have expressed dismay at the fact that I don’t like chocolate, but as you’ve mentioned delicious chocolate-less desserts do exist 🙂

  6. Freeda Baker Nichols

    Inger, don’t cats chase rabbits? You might have put your kitten in the picture behind the rabbit, so I can see it. 🙂 lol I have to try these cookies. They look and sound so good.

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