Before I share this holiday post, I should tell you that I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client.
There’s just something about the Christmas season that brings out the best in me. I give up a few of my OCD tendencies, we decorate early (and often), I take time off to spend with my family, we bust out the video games, and I bake. You see, if you really know me, that last one is the strangest of all. I just don’t bake. At all. Almost never. Except for during the holidays.
But the holiday season is all about being thankful and for giving to others. The gift of homemade treats is always a hit for family, friends, service workers, teachers, or just anyone that happens to stop by. So I let my family’s love of M&M’s, video games, and Ninja Turtles inspire my early holiday baking this year. The what you say? Let me explain.
My babies love to play Ninja Turtles on our gaming system. I mean LOVE. And when the older kids are visiting, they play along until the babies go to sleep and then they bust out the racing games. It’s all about the Motorsports people. So when I heard that my daughter’s boyfriend would be getting an Xbox ONE, I knew just what to get him for Christmas. I headed to Walmart to check out all of the new games and the Forza 5 game immediately drew me in. This is the perfect gift for him for under the Christmas tree and I know he’ll get hours (and hours and hours) of enjoyment out of it. And while I was there, I remembered that there’s a deal going on now through Buy, Snap, Redeem that I didn’t want to miss out on. If you buy the Forza Motorsport 5 Xbox ONE game along with participating M&M’s products, you can receive a $10 eGift card to Walmart. Of course I picked up a few bags and that’s how video games, M&M’s, and Ninja Turtles inspired my holiday baking.
M&M Granola Bars:
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup Milk Chocolate M&M’s
- 1/4 cup Peanut Butter M&M’s
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
Mix the quick oats, brown sugar, M&M’s, and marshmallows in a large mixing bowl. Separately, mix the peanut butter and honey in a small bowl and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften the mixture. Pour the softened peanut butter and honey into the dry mixture and stir until mixed well. Put granola mix in a 9×9 greased pan and bake for 18 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and then cut into bars. Cool completely before serving or boxing up to let them set.
The holidays are upon us and you’ll want to be ready. If you, or someone you know, will be receiving the Xbox ONE this Christmas, be sure to pick up Forza 5 in stores now. If you love Forza 4, you’re going to be amazed with this newer, faster, and improved version. Bake up those goodies for friends, family, or other important people in your life. And be sure to stock up on M&M’s, the perfect stocking stuffer for kids of all ages!
While you’re waiting for your festive treats to bake, have some fun with those M&M’s. Get creative with M&M Pixel Art and enter the Instagram Contest. Just post your creative pixel art to Instagram and use the hashtag #FueledbyMM for your chance to win. Tips for M&M Pixel Art: 1) Toss those OCD tendencies, 2) Realize in advance that all M&M’s are not the exact same size, and 3) The M’s will shift a bit…it’s totally OK. Bubby loves this imperfect Leonardo so much, he hasn’t even eaten it…YET!
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| Be sure to read the full set of instructions before you participate in the contest so you’ll be eligible to win! |
Be sure to follow along on Pinterest for more fun and creative recipes using M&M’s! What’s your favorite holiday recipe? What video games are you looking forward to receiving and playing this holiday season? I’m still shopping for the holidays and ready for some more baking so I’d love to hear your ideas!
About Christy
How stinkin’ cute is that M&M Leonardo?? LOVE!!
Bubby likes blue and Ninja Turtles. How could I not right?
OH EM GEE! Love the M&M Leo! He’s so cute!
Cuteness overload!! Oh, and those granola bars are making me drool!
Holiday baking is so much easier than you think. Check out my blog for some recipes!
I don’t have children but I my degree is Art History so I remember when the ninja turtles came out I was rather appalled that a generation of children would remember 4 great masters as ninja turtles! I love your recipe – I might have to try it for my packages for my family back East.
The granola bars are amazing actually. I can hardly believe it was me that made them quite honestly.
I need to for sure. I can cook up a storm but when it comes to baking…not so much. I’m going to search tonight when I get some time. Thanks!
Everyone in my family are all big fans of video games and M&M. We would have had a great time at your party.
Mmmm M&M granola bars. Yum! LOVE the TNMT pixel with M&Ms, too. Any chance you want to gift those to me?
That is so cute!!!! Leo is adorable!!
What a great way to add a homemade touch to gifting something like a video game!
Totally yours. Oh wait. They ate it. Too late.
Leo is in Bubby’s tummy now
This look so so beautiful.