I looooove Easter.  I relish being the Easter Bunny, and I have so much fun each year putting together my kids’ baskets and leaving powder bunny footprints through the living room.  I love the egg hunts and the egg dyeing and the brunch, and, the candy.

Easter is officially about a month away and the Easter candy has been out in the store for at least a month, so if you have as little self control as I do, you definitely have at least some stockpiled in your house already.  I may or may not have a bag each of Easter themed peanut butter cups, kisses, two bags of Palmers Easter chocolate (my fave) and a bag of Cadbury hard shell Easter eggs in my pantry alone.  Not to mention all the crap in my kids’ baskets.

These chewy, perfect peanut butter oatmeal bars are perfect on their own, but the addition of the chopped up Easter candy makes them even better.  You could use ANY chocolate Easter candy that you have.  Twix, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Peanut Butter cups, M&Ms, Mars Bars, really anything you have on hand.  I used peanut butter cups, crunch bars, cadbury eggs, butterfinger, and then the sprinkles in these beauties.

Make sure you don’t overbake these for a chewy, perfect cookie.  They will look slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven, just golden around the edges, but they will continue to bake and set up while they are cooling in the pan.

Recipe adapted from Together as a Family.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole-grain old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups of chopped chocolate Easter candy (see notes above for what I used)
• 1/4 cup springtime confetti sprinkles
• additional sprinkles and chopped candy bars for topping, optional

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13 baking pan by spraying with cooking spray. Set aside.
• In small mixing bowl combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and oatmeal. Mix with a whisk to break up clumps. Set aside.
• In large mixing bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, sugar and blend together until fluffy and light in color (about 2 minutes).
• Add in vanilla extract, egg, and egg yolk. Blend together until combined.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir together with a wooden spoon just until combined.
• Add in chopped candy bars and sprinkles, mix together.
• Dump into prepared pan and spread out evenly using your clean hands.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes. Edges will rise up a bit and be a golden brown color while the middle will still look slightly underdone and paler in color.
• Let cookie bars cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy!