Funfetti Bars

Gooey, sweet, and loaded Funfetti Bars feature a chocolate chip cookie base with a delicious candy-packed top. Marshmallows, chocolate-covered pretzels, miniature M&M’s, and sprinkles–who could ask for more?

For more Funfetti treats, try these Cake Batter Cookies or Funfetti Cookies! (Funfetti® is the brand name of Pillsbury’s sprinkle-filled cake mix.)

Funfetti Bars

These loaded bars have it all, from a chocolate chip cookie base to gooey melted marshmallows, and plenty of candy sprinkled on top. My mom made this classic treat for us growing up, and everyone was obsessed with them. In fact, my mom is pretty famous for this recipe along with her Seven-Layer Bars and Caramelitas.

When my mom made these bars, she used pre-made cookie dough for the base. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, I don’t think there’s anything quite like a cookie base made from scratch. So if you’re in a hurry, grab some ready-made cookie dough and if not, I hope you love this chocolate chip cookie bar base — it’s one of our favorites!

How to make Funfetti Bars

The photo collages above and below this text show the general process of making Funfetti Bars.

• Make the cookie base. Take your time to really cream the butter and sugars — this will create a great foundation for the cookie bars.
• Top the baked bars with marshmallows and briefly return to the oven.
• Meanwhile, chop up the chocolate-covered pretzels.
• Add chocolate-covered pretzels, miniature M&M’s, and sprinkles (I totally left these out in pictures, but we always have them on the bars!).
• Let cool fully and then cut into bars.

Variation ideas

Pretty much any chocolate candy works on top of Funfetti Bars, so chop any leftover candy you have into small pieces and add it on top.

Substituted equal amounts of any other chopped candy for the chocolate-covered pretzels and miniature M&M’s. Some ideas include chocolate-covered almonds, chopped candy bars, white chocolate-covered pretzels, and peanut butter M&M’s. Get creative!

Make these bars festive by using holiday (or special event) M&M’s and sprinkles. I shared these Spring Confetti Bars a few years ago and they’ve been a huge hit on this site!

Quick tips

• If you have a food scale I highly recommend weighing the flour for an accurate measurement. With too much flour packed into a measuring cup, the Funfetti Bars cookie base becomes less flavorful and more cake-like.
• Let bars cool completely.  These bars are best fully cooled — yes, they’re great hot and gooey from the oven, but they are very messy. These bars need at least an hour to cool before cutting them into individual pieces.
• Use fresh marshmallows. The newer and softer the marshmallows, the better the topping on these bars will taste.
• Miniature M&M’s can be found on the baking aisle of most grocery stores; they’re labeled as M&M milk chocolate baking bits.
• If you prefer less sweetness in Funfetti Bars, use semi-sweet chocolate chips in the cookie base. Additionally,  you could leave off 1 or 2 of the candy toppings or cut small servings.

More cookie recipes

• Chocolate Cookie Recipe with white and milk chocolate chips
• Raspberry Gooey Butter Bars
• Oatmeal Cookies reader favorite recipe!
• Snickerdoodles
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies best chocolate chip cookies ever!

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5 from 3 votes

Funfetti Bars

By Chelsea Lords

Gooey, sweet, and loaded Funfetti Bars feature a chocolate chip cookie base with a delicious candy packed top of marshmallows, chocolate-covered pretzels, miniature M&M's, and sprinkles!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 23 minutes minutes

Rest Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 33 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients  

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Cookie Bars

• ▢ 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar, lightly packed
• ▢ 1/4 cup (55g) white sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (142g) white flour
• ▢ 1 cup (165g) milk chocolate chips (can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Toppings

• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups (60g) white miniature marshmallows
• ▢ 1/4 cup (50g) miniature M&M's Note 1
• ▢ 3/4 cup (66g) chocolate-covered pretzels, coarsely chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoons sprinkles

Instructions 

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper (do not skip-- these bars are sticky!) and set aside.
• COOKIE BASE: In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the room-temperature butter (not melted) with the brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Then add the baking soda, salt, flour, and chocolate chips. Beat until the dough is combined and smooth. It will be a bit wet.
• BAKE: Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 19-23 minutes or until lightly golden brown at the edges and firm in the center (shouldn't be glossy).
• MARSHMALLOWS: Remove from the oven and top with the marshmallows. Bake for 1 and 1/2 more minutes and remove from the oven to a cooling rack.
• CANDY: Top with the miniature M&M's, coarsely chopped chocolate pretzels, and sprinkles.
• COOL: Let Funfetti Bars cool at room temperature for at least an hour, then cut into bars (with a hot sharp knife -- run under hot water, dry, cut, repeat), and enjoy. These are best enjoyed within the same day these are made because of the marshmallows on top.
• STORAGE: If you have some leftovers, you can keep these bars, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, but the marshmallow does lose flavor and texture.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Mini M&M's: Miniature M&M's can be found on the baking aisle of most grocery stores; they're labeled as M&M milk chocolate baking bits.

Nutrition

Calories: 295kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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