Gooey Easter Cookie Bars with Marshmallows and Chocolate

Easter baking should feel cheerful rather than complicated, especially when the house is busy and there are several dishes competing for oven space. These Easter cookie bars have a buttery white chocolate base topped with soft marshmallows, pastel chocolate sweets and a scattering of spring-coloured sprinkles. They look wonderfully festive, but everything is baked in one tin and sliced once cool.

The cookie layer is soft and chewy in the centre with lightly golden edges. White chocolate runs through the dough, while the marshmallows are added near the end so they puff without disappearing completely. Pressing some of the colourful sweets on after baking keeps their shells bright and gives the finished tray that generous, bakery-style appearance.

These bars are particularly useful for Easter weekend because they can be made a day or two ahead and cut into small pieces for visitors to help themselves. They are sweet and indulgent, so neat little squares are ideal. Arrange them on a pretty cake stand, wrap individual pieces for an Easter basket or serve them alongside coffee after lunch.

Why You’ll Love These Easter Cookie Bars

• They are wonderfully festive. Pastel sweets, marshmallows and sprinkles create an Easter bake without any complicated decorating.
• Everything bakes in one tin. There is no need to portion individual cookies or rotate several trays through the oven.
• The centre stays soft and chewy. Brown sugar and cornflour give the cookie base a tender texture rather than a dry, cakey one.
• Children can help decorate. Adding the toppings is simple, colourful and much easier than piping icing.
• They can be made ahead. Bake the tray one or two days before serving and slice it once completely cool.
• The bars are easy to customise. Use mini eggs, pastel chocolate beans or chopped Easter chocolate according to what is available.

What You’ll Need for Easter Cookie Bars

Room-temperature butter and egg combine more evenly, while chopped white chocolate gives richer pockets than baking chips.

• 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 65g light brown soft sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 190g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 200g white chocolate chips or chunks, divided
• 150g mini marshmallows
• 150g pastel chocolate sweets or mini chocolate eggs, divided
• 25g spring-coloured sprinkles

Note: Pastel M&M’s are seasonal and not always easy to find. Mini Eggs, Smarties or another sugar-coated chocolate work perfectly. Chop large mini eggs roughly so the bars are easier to slice, and check labels carefully if serving anyone with allergies. White chocolate bars usually melt and taste better than white baking chips.

Equipment You’ll Need

• Digital kitchen scales
• A large mixing bowl
• A medium bowl for the dry ingredients
• An electric hand whisk or stand mixer
• A 23 x 33cm baking tin
• Baking paper
• A flexible spatula
• A sharp knife for slicing

No specialist equipment is required. A metal baking tin gives the most even result, and lining it with an overhang makes the cooled cookie slab much easier to lift.

How to Make Easter Cookie Bars

Step 1: Prepare the tin and oven

Heat the oven to 160°C fan, 180°C conventional or 350°F. Lightly grease a 23 x 33cm tin and line it with baking paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. This recipe moves quickly once the dough is mixed, so weigh the toppings before you begin.

Step 2: Cream the butter and sugars

Beat the softened butter, caster sugar and brown sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, until paler and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the egg and vanilla just until smooth. Properly softened butter should indent easily without looking oily or melted.

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients

Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cornflour and salt together in another bowl. Add them to the butter mixture in two additions, mixing on the lowest speed. Stop as soon as no dry flour remains so the cookie base stays tender.

Step 4: Fold in the white chocolate

Fold 150g of the white chocolate through the dough with a spatula, reserving the rest for the top. Press the thick dough evenly into the lined tin. Slightly damp or buttered fingertips make this much easier and prevent the mixture sticking to your hands.

Step 5: Bake the cookie base

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden but the centre still looks slightly underdone. The base will return to the oven briefly with the toppings, so do not wait for it to look completely firm at this stage.

Step 6: Add the Easter toppings

Remove the tin and scatter the mini marshmallows evenly over the hot base, followed by half of the chocolate sweets. Return it to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the marshmallows puff and soften. Watch closely because marshmallows move from softly puffed to deeply toasted very quickly.

Step 7: Finish and cool

Press the remaining chocolate sweets and white chocolate into the warm top, then add the sprinkles. Leave the bars to cool completely in the tin for at least 2 hours. Lift out with the paper and cut into 24 squares using a lightly oiled or warm clean knife.

Tips for the Best Easter Cookie Bars

Use truly soft butter. Cold butter will not cream properly, while melted butter can make the base greasy and flat.

Measure the flour accurately. Too much flour creates dry bars, which is why digital scales are particularly helpful here.

Do not overbake the base. Remove it when the centre still looks a little soft because it bakes again with the marshmallows.

Add colourful sweets in two stages. Some soften into the topping, while those pressed on afterwards retain their glossy shells.

Cool before slicing. Warm marshmallow stretches and sticks to the knife. Two hours of cooling produces much neater squares.

Use a clean warm knife. Wipe the blade between cuts and warm it under hot water when the topping becomes sticky.

Finish with restraint. A few pastel sweets and pretty sprinkles look more polished than completely covering the marshmallow layer.

Make It Your Own

Use chopped milk chocolate eggs instead of sugar-coated sweets for a richer topping. Caramel-filled eggs also work, but chop them after chilling so the centres are easier to handle.

For lemon Easter cookie bars, add the finely grated zest of one lemon to the butter and sugar. The freshness balances the sweet white chocolate and marshmallows beautifully.

Freeze-dried raspberries add colour without more sugar. Crush a small handful over the finished bars with the sprinkles for a slightly sharper, more grown-up flavour.

If you prefer less sweetness, reduce the marshmallows to 100g and use half white chocolate and half dark chocolate in the base. Keep a few pastel sweets on top so the Easter appearance remains.

The same recipe works after Easter with ordinary chocolate beans and rainbow sprinkles. For a birthday tray, add candles to the uncut slab once it is completely cool.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Store Easter Cookie Bars

At room temperature: Keep cooled bars in an airtight glass storage container for up to four days, with baking paper between layers.

In the freezer: Freeze individual squares for up to two months. Defrost them at room temperature while still covered to prevent condensation settling on the chocolate.

For serving: Bring the bars to room temperature if they have been stored somewhere cool. The cookie base and marshmallow topping are at their softest and most flavourful then.

Easter Cookie Bars Recipe Card

Recipe name: Gooey Easter Cookie Bars with Marshmallows and Chocolate

Description: Soft white chocolate cookie bars topped with puffed marshmallows, pastel chocolates and colourful Easter sprinkles.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 17 minutes

Cooling time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 37 minutes

Servings: 24 bars

Estimated cost: Approximately £12 per batch or £0.50 per bar

Calories: Approximately 225 calories per bar. Nutritional figures are estimates only.

Equipment

• Digital kitchen scales
• Large mixing bowl
• Medium mixing bowl
• Electric hand whisk or stand mixer
• 23 x 33cm baking tin
• Baking paper
• Flexible spatula
• Sharp knife

Ingredients

• 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 65g light brown soft sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 190g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 200g white chocolate, divided
• 150g mini marshmallows
• 150g pastel chocolate sweets, divided
• 25g sprinkles

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 160°C fan, 180°C conventional or 350°F. Grease and line a 23 x 33cm tin.
2. Beat the butter and sugars for 2 to 3 minutes, then mix in the egg and vanilla.
3. Whisk the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cornflour and salt, then mix into the wet ingredients.
4. Fold in 150g white chocolate and press the dough evenly into the tin.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until lightly golden at the edges.
6. Add the marshmallows and half the chocolate sweets, then bake for another 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Press on the remaining sweets and white chocolate, add sprinkles and cool completely before cutting.

Notes

• Do not fully bake the base before adding the toppings.
• Mini Eggs or Smarties can replace pastel chocolate beans.
• Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
• Freeze finished bars for up to two months.

More Colourful Bakes

If you make these Easter cookie bars, leave a comment or share them with me on Instagram. Try my Lucky Charms cookies next, or browse the full recipe index for more seasonal treats.