Soft, chewy, buttery, chunky so basically, everything you want in a loaded cookie, but in bar form! So much quicker than making individual cookies and just as fun to eat. With white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles for fun, festive looks, plus crunchy toasted pecans that add not just flavour but make sure the cookie bars are not super sweet. They’re super fun to make, to look at, and of course, to eat!
I started off just wanting to make my favourite cookie dough with white chocolate chips and pecans but halfway through, I realised it would be so great to speed this all up, skip the dough chilling and just add it to a pan and bake it off as a whole. The bonus here was that I reduced the sugar in the dough because white chocolate is pretty sweet, and in traditional cookie form, I could have landed up with dry and cakey cookies because sugar adds richness and moisture. In bar form however, things are more forgiving and the dough still bakes up perfectly soft and chewy.
The edges are crispy, the centers are soft and the key here is to make sure you don’t overbake, exactly like you’d do for regular cookies. The dough continues to cook and firm up as it cools, so to get the buttery, chewy texture in the center, it’s important to take the pan out of the oven while it still looks pale on the surface.
The flavours are super fun and super delicious, creating some solid birthday vibes with all the colour and sweetness. They’re still not cloyingly sweet though, as I said the pecans keep that from happening because they add all this nutty, crunchy wonder. I hope you love these as much as I did!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Funfetti White Chocolate Pecan Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans (100 gms)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (100 gms, light or dark)
- 1/3 cup caster sugar (60 gms)
- 140 gms butter, at room temp
- 1 egg, at room temp (see notes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180 gms)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt, if using unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips (130 gms)
- 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 C. Spread the pecans out in a single layer on an un-greased baking tray. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until they are fragrant and very slightly darkened. Set aside to cool, then chop coarsely. Keep the oven on at 175 C.
- Line an 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick baking paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars using a hand mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again till combined.
- Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, if using. Fold to combine into a thick, sticky dough. Lastly, fold in the sprinkles, white chocolate chips, and toasted pecans, making sure they're evenly dispersed (I like to reserve a couple tablespoons of all the mix-ins to decorate the top of the bars). The dough is thick so this step might require some arm muscle.
- Spread the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Smoothen the top, then decorate with the reserved chips, sprinkles and pecans.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges of the bars have darkened and the center looks set but still a little pale and puffy. The cookie bars will continue to cook and firm up as they cool. Over-baking till the surface is completely will dark will lead to dry and crunchy cookie bars.
- Let the bars cool completely at room temperature, then lift out using the paper overhang and slice into 16 equal pieces. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. In the fridge, they'll last about 10 days and longer in the freezer. Bring back to room temperature before eating. Happy baking!
Notes
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