Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars [Video]
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Cook time: 40 minutes
Last updated on June 18th, 2021 at 10:49 pm
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are delightfully soft and deliciously chewy, buttery, and studded with pockets of melted chocolate. So easy and comes together in a snap!
Don’t want to fire up the oven? These No-Bake recipes for Nutella Cheesecake, Cake Batter Truffles, and Almond Joy Roll will satisfy your sweet tooth without warming up your kitchen!
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars is the perfect recipe when the sweet cravings strike, but don’t have the energy or time to make individual cookies. The bars are very similar to these classic chocolate chip cookies but are quicker, easier, and faster to prepare.
These are every bit as delicious as the traditional version, but it’s all made in one pan! It is one of my favorite recipes to make when it comes to desserts. It is an easy treat to make if you crave something sweet and delicious with little time on hand.
The bars are dense but extra soft with that yummy chewiness that’s a trademark of every great cookie. Also, they are very soft and chewy and loaded with chocolate chips with a nice touch of brown sugar, vanilla, and salt.
In addition, it is such a breeze to make a bigger batch. The hardest thing about making it? Deciding whether you want to enjoy it with a glass of cold milk or a fat scoop of ice cream on top (I recommend both)!
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:
- Flour: All-purpose give these bars excellent structure.
- Baking soda: Provides the lift for dense but soft bars.
- Baking powder: This helps create a dense yet fluffy crumb.
- Salt: Just a pinch rounds up the flavors.
- Unsalted butter: We’ll use melted unsalted that’s been cooled slightly.
- Brown and granulated white sugar: Both add sweetness, but using more brown results in a moist baked good.
- Eggs: Let them come to room temp so they incorporate quickly.
- Vanilla extract: Never forget this, or you’ll end up with flat and bland results!
- Semi-sweet chips: I keep it simple with these, but go ahead and use whatever flavor and size you want.
How to make the best Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?
- Whisk the butter with both sugars. First, start by stirring until you achieve a thick, slurry-like consistency. Then, follow it up with the extract and room-temp eggs.
- Finish the dough. Blend dry ingredients. Add everything to the wet and stir. Mix the chips throughout the dough as evenly as you can (reserve a handful).
- Bake. Next, pour the dough carefully into an 8×8 or 9×9 dish, sprinkle remaining chips evenly on top, and place in a preheated 350F oven to bake in around 35 mins.
- Serve. Cool for around an hour. Slice and serve with milk or topped with vanilla ice cream.
How do you know when a Cookie Bar is done cooking?
The best and easiest way to check on doneness is to stick a toothpick right in the center. When you take it out, it’s mostly clean, it means the cookies a done and ready to serve.
Also, if you have a few moist crumbs clinging to the tester, this is also fine. The cookies continue to cook for a bit longer even after removing from the oven, and as they cool in the hot pan.
Visually, the top should look set and you should see golden brown edges.
What else can you add to Cookie Bars?
Jazz it up with your favorites ingredients! I love adding the following to mine:
- Peanut butter or caramel chips
- Almonds, pecan, macadamia, and other nuts
- Crushed pretzels
- Flaky salt on top
- M&Ms
- Colorful sprinkles
- Cinnamon Chips
How do you keep chocolate chip cookies soft?
Store them ASAP. Toss a bread slice inside the bag before sealing to keep them fresh and soft. The moisture in the bread maintains humidity inside the container to prevent them from getting stale.
How to store them?
Arrange the cooled slices in a sealed container or bag. You can also wrap them up in plastic then double wrap in foil. Just make sure it’s as air-tight as possible to prevent the treats from drying out.
How to freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?
Cool the bars completely then store them in sealed containers. Also, I like separating each slice with parchment so they don’t stick to each other.
However, you can also wrap and freeze them individually so people can just take a serving and heat it up without exposing the rest.
To reheat, cover with a moist paper towel and microwave until soft and warm.
More delicious chocolate desserts:
- Chocolate Cake Baked Donuts
- Best German Choco Cupcakes
- Chocolate Mousse Brownies (aka Best Brownies EVER!)
- Chocolate Creme Brulee
- Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Recipe tips:
- For clean slices, the cooling part is very important. The extra time helps the dessert set and get beautifully firm.
- Use a kitchen scale for precise ingredient measurements.
- Also, feel free to double the recipe by using a larger 9×13 baking dish.
- Don’t overmix! A few flecks of flour are fine.
- Feel free to sprinkle some flaked sea salt on top just after baking. This provides a nice bit of contrast.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup unsalted butter (melted and a bit cooled)
- 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line an 8x8 or 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper, in a way so it has handles on two of the sides, for easy bars removal.
- Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cornstarch to a medium bowl and whisk to combine, set aside.
- Add the melted butter to a large bowl, and add the sugars, whisk together, until well combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix together well.
- Add the dry mixture into the wet and mix until just combined, then using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips, leaving out 1/4 cup.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish and smooth the top. Top with the reserved 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes, the edges should be set and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. If the dessert starts to brown really quickly, cover loosely with parchment paper.
- Let the cookie bars cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, lift and transfer to the counter to cool completely before cutting.
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