Cookie Butter FUNFETTI®-Inspired Triple Chip Bars

I don’t know what took me so long to actually bake with cookie butter.

As opposed to just eating it straight from the jar at 12:19 a.m. Midnight snacks take on new meaning when cookie butter is involved.

Cookie butter is something that I could easily just eat from the jar with a spoon until it’s gone. And I do.

If you don’t have access to Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter, look for Biscoff spread in your grocery store or big-box retailer, or just order some.

You could make this recipe with peanut butter or almond butter, but it’s not going to be quite the same taste experience.

Then again, if you’ve never had cookie butter, you don’t know what you’re missing so you may not want to order it, actually. It’s pretty addictive.

And so are these. Funfetti cake, coconut flakes, cookie butter, sweetened condensed milk.

Three kinds of baking chips are included:

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

White chocolate chips

Butterscotch chips

I was asked by Land ‘O Lakes to make something with their eggs.

I used their butter, too. Why not.

I was in oozy, drippy heaven with these. The cookie butter has almost imperceptible crushed cookie granules in it, adding a bit of grit to its texture. When paired with the ever-so-slight texture from the sprinkles in the Funfetti cake, and the coconut flakes, it was subtle-texture-nirvana.

The crunch of the baking chips contrasted with the smoothness of the melted cookie butter, well, we have a winner on our hands, kids.

 

Cookie Butter FUNFETTI®-Inspired Triple Chip Bars

Makes 24 bars

1 box Funfetti Moist Surpreme cake mix (use vanilla, white, butter, or yellow as alternates)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon water, optional if necessary

3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut flakes

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1/3 heaping cup (just shy of 1/2 cup) cookie butter spread*

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a 9-by-13 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil and then spraying it with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, egg, vanilla and mix. The batter will be extremely thick and will be difficult to combine, but keep stirring or use your fingers and knead it together, adding the water if necessary. Press the dough it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the dough, then sprinkle the three kinds of baking chips evenly.

In a mixing bowl (the same one from the cake mix is fine), combine the sweetened condensed milk and cookie butter, stir until well combined, and pour mixture evenly over dough, using a spatula to even it if necessary.

Bake for 24 to 26 minutes (for really gooey and drippy bars as shown in my photos)

Or Bake for 26 to 30 minutes for drier and less gooey bars. Baking notes: Watch the edges of the bars and as they begin to brown and pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, I would pull them out. Note that the middle of the bars will barely seem set, even after the full recommended baking time and that is okay. Take care not to overbake because these are best when gooey. The bars will set up considerably upon cooling. Allow bars to cool completely before slicing and serving. Store in an airtight container on the countertop or refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months. I store mine in the freezer and they never really freeze solid because of the fat content.

*Try 1/3 cup peanut butter + 1 tablespoon pulverized molasses/ginger/graham cracker cookie crumbs + 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon stirred in if you don’t have cookie butter. Although peanut butter is not cookie butter, if that’s all you have and are in a jam, try it.

Gather the goods. You can use yellow, white, or butter cake mix if you don’t have Funfetti on hand and use other nut butters or spreads as desired.

Add the egg and butter to the cake mix, form a dough, press the dough into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle the coconut and baking chip trifecta over the top.

Flood with the cookie butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture.

It looks soupy, and it was. The best possible kind of soup ever. Sweet, creamy, rich, indulgent.

The soup mostly bakes off and solidifies, but make no mistake, these babies are gooey, drippy, and messy.

And they are rich and very sweet.

This recipe is for those with a serious sweet tooth and if you’re one of those people who says, “Oh, that run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookie is too sweet for me” or are someone who scrapes excess frosting from birthday cake corners and edges because “all that” frosting is too sweet, this recipe is not for you.

For those with a serious sweet tooth (and a fatty-tooth; these are really rich and filling) you know who you are.

We are kindred spirits and this recipe is for you.

Related Recipes:

My excitement about the return of Cookie Butter to Trader Joe’s

Creamy Cookie Butter White Chocolate Banana Smoothie

No Bake Peanut Butter Biscoff Cookie Dough Bites (Vegan, almost GF with easy adaptation) – Made with peanut butter + Biscoff cookies. Try cookie butter spread + graham crackers or any number of combinations based on what you have.

Cookie Butter Spread Ginger Molasses Cookies (No Bake, Vegan, with GF option)

There’s no cookie butter in these Caramel and Chocolate Gooey Bars (GF with Vegan adaptation), but their oozing and gooey factor is similar to the Cookie Butter Bars. Drippy decadence.

No cookie butter? Try Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars

Do you like Funfetti cake?

Sprinkles inside of cake with that classic white-cake-meets-my-childhood-birthday-cakes flavor, Funfetti is always fun.

Have you tried Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread?

If you haven’t tried cookie butter, order some Biscoff Spread if you can’t find any in stores in your area. I’ve heard that Wal-mart consistently has it and many mainstream grocery stores (Ralph’s, Albertson’s, Kroger, etc.) are carrying it more commonly.

You’ve gotta try it, at least once. The taste, the texture of crushed graham crackers or molasses cookies, with a cinnamon-and-spice seasoning, sweetened, thick like very thick peanut butter and not runny and thin like almond butter. You can’t go wrong with cookie butter spread or Biscoff.

I’m convinced that the Dutch Speculaaspasta spread that I found in Aruba is the same exact product as Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter based on the packaging and the identical appearance and taste of the product inside the jar.

In comparing the taste of Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter and Biscoff Spread, I think that Biscoff is a little softer, less thick, and spreads a bit easier. It also has a slightly more mellow flavor and is less intense with the hit of cinnamon and spice. However, they are very, very similar.

Yes, I do think there is a subtle difference, but it’s very minute and I know not everyone has access to TJ’s, so order some Biscoff.

 

The winner of the Purefit Nutrition Bars Giveaway is Patricia @ thecastironvegan

Don’t forget to enter the Cascal Natual Soft Drink Giveaway

Disclosure: I received a full-value coupon redeemable for any variety of LAND O LAKES^® Eggs. All opinions are my own.