Confetti White Chocolate Bars

These confetti white chocolate bars from the new Cookie and Cups cookbook are pretty incredible. You'd think (I thought, and so did Caleb) by reading the recipe and looking at the photo that these would be way too sweet. White chocolate and sprinkles plus a blond cookie base? It seemed like a combination designed to win the affection of children, while giving someone at my advanced age of almost 33 a major toothache. I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into one of these confetti white chocolate bars and found the flavors to be perfectly balanced. They are sweet, don't get me wrong - they're confetti white chocolate bars after all - but they aren't overly sweet. They're compulsively edible - several friends and co-workers found themselves returning to my office throughout the day for "just one more". Even a co-worker who professes not to like sweet things very much. These were one of the most quickly vanishing treats I've ever brought to work and there were a lot of disappointed faces when I ran out.

I was on the fence about buying Cookies and Cups, because I hadn't spent much time on Shelly's blog before and I wasn't sure what to expect out of her cookbook. I love it. I found her writing style to be really approachable, and the line in the introduction where she confesses to often mixing the leavening powder and salt at the same time as the eggs and vanilla sealed the deal for me, because I've been baking that way for years and she's the first cookbook author I've encountered to encourage that shortcut. Try it for yourself. Of course, if you're working with a delicate batter or adding the flour and milk in stages, if you have to sift the dry ingredients, or if you have a large amount of liquid ingredients that might activate the leavener (like lemon juice), then by all means mix all the dry ingredients together first. Otherwise, skip that bowl-dirtying step and save yourself a bit of time too.

There are just two important things to know before shopping for the ingredients to make these confetti white chocolate bars. You'll need to be sure you buy the long sprinkles, or jimmies as they call them in Jersey, not the little round sprinkles. Those will melt into the batter, yielding a final product that isn't as pretty and doesn't have quite the right texture according to Shelly. Also, splurge on a high-quality white chocolate; use at least the Ghirardelli white chocolate chips if not something nicer, as white chocolate is a product where quality varies quite dramatically across brands and it makes a tremendous impact on the flavor of these confetti bars.Shelly's confetti white chocolate bars are easy to make, don't require much in the way of baking supplies or equipment, and you can be eating the baked cookie bars just over an hour after starting the recipe (although I do think they're better once completely cooled). Just cream your butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, then mix in the egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt all at once. Follow up with mixing in the flour on low, then add the sprinkles and the white chocolate chips. The dough will be pretty stiff and a bit challenging to distribute evenly within a parchment-lined 9x13'' cake pan. Try your best, place in the oven, wait impatiently (maybe do the dishes or take a shower if you're like me and do your baking in the morning before work), remove and then let cool on a wire rack. These confetti white chocolate bars were the first thing I made from Cookies and Cups, and they were so good, I've since made her No-bake Mint Bars, Oreo Cookies, Kitchen Sink Bars, and Caramel Monkey Bread. They were all winners, even though my monkey bread suffered some difficulties along the way. This little cookbook has definitely won its place on my bookshelves.

Confetti White Chocolate Bars

Soft, chewy, not too sweet - these bars were a crowd favorite.

3 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 32 minutes minutes

Total Time: 57 minutes minutes

Servings: 36 bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 ½ cup (360 g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup rainbow sprinkles plus 4 tablespoons for garnish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 9x13" baking pan with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and brown sugar together for 2 minutes, using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
• Add the egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined, then scrape down sides of the bowl.
• Add the flour, mix on low speed until just combined, then scrape down sides of the bowl.
• Stir in the white chocolate chips and 1 cup sprinkles until evenly distributed.
• Press the dough into the prepared pan, then top with the additional 4 tablespoons of sprinkles.
• Bake for 32 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges.
• Let cool fully, then serve.
• These bars will keep for 3 days tightly wrapped or could be frozen for longer storage.

Notes

I doubled the recipe from Shelly's original and added only ⅔ the quantity of white chocolate she called for - if you'd like to convert back, bake these in an 8x8'' pan for 20-25 minutes.