Looking for the best chewy chocolate chip cookie bars recipe? You’re going to love these! Full of buttery goodness, chocolate chips, and sprinkled with sea salt for the perfect finishing touch!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite guilty pleasure. If I were to have to choose one dessert to eat for the rest of my life, it would be chocolate chip cookies!
I have been enjoying this one-egg recipe so much, it’s become my new go-to! We made these for my sister for her birthday and have made them a few times since. I thought it would be delicious to put into a bar form…the results? They’re beyond good.
Table of contents
I hope you enjoy these just as much as we have. My sister and I whipped up a batch tonight and it reminded me of making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies together last fall. There’s something to wonderful about baking together that creates memories. I hope as you make these cookie bars, you create new memories too!
Ingredients Needed for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- butter: room temperature butter is best, perfect for creaming with sugar!
- sugar: I use a mix of granulated and brown sugar in chocolate chip cookies. The molasses and moisture in brown sugar adds depth to the sweetness and keeps the cookies chewy!
- egg: only one egg for this recipe, room-temperature!
- vanilla extract: pure vanilla extract will add wonderful flavor.
- flour: all-purpose flour for delicious cookies!
- baking soda & baking powder: using both baking powder and baking soda will help these bars rise.
- salt: salt adds a balance of flavor in this recipe. I really like using Maldon sea salt, but any nice sea salt will do!
- chocolate chips: I prefer Guittard semisweet chocolate chips! Using a high quality chocolate chip will make these bars delicious!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Time needed: 40 minutes
How to make chocolate chip cookie bars:
- Cream the butter & sugar.
This step is incredibly important! Make sure the butter is room temperature. Combine the butter & sugars, and using an electric mixer cream them together until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract.
Once the butter and sugar is creamed together, add the egg and vanilla extract. Again, use an electric mixer to cream the ingredients until light and fluffy.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
Now it’s time to fold in the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix! Over-mixing can cause the bars to deflate in the middle after baking.
- Stir in the chocolate chips!
I like using Guittard chocolate chips whenever I am making chocolate chip cookies!
- Press into a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
9×13 will produce the best results and the most cookie bars! However, you can use an 8×8, 9×9, or 9×13 baking sheet for the cookie bars. Use a piece of parchment paper to line the baking sheet (if you don’t have parchment paper, just grease the pan a bit!).
Using a smaller pan will cause thicker cookie bars, and they will need to bake longer (just like when making brownies).
Press the dough into the pan and sprinkle with a touch of coarse sea salt (optional). - Bake until golden, and enjoy!
Bake the chocolate chip cookie bars for about 25 minutes at 350 F. Remove the cookies when they are *just* golden on top. Do not over bake these cookie bars, you want them to be chewy and delicious, rather than crispy.
FAQs
You can easily freeze chocolate chip cookie bars! They’re best fresh from the oven…but freezing is easy!
After baking the bars, allow them to completely cool. Then, slice the bars into small squares. Remove them from the baking sheet and layer with parchment paper in a ziplock or tupperware container. To thaw: remove from the freezer and allow them to come to room temperature.
You can make these bars without brown sugar; however, they’re best with brown sugar. If you’re out of brown sugar or can’t find any, you can make your own brown sugar by simply adding a tablespoon of molasses to granulated sugar.
If you don’t have molasses, you can use all granulated sugar, but the depth of flavor will not be as well rounded, and you may notice the cookies are a bit fluffier. If you skip the brown sugar, do not use baking soda. Instead, substitute the baking soda with an additional 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.
Chocolate chip cookie bars are so easy and come together with just a few simple ingredients! You’ll need butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and of course chocolate chips!
It’s important not to over-bake chocolate chip cookies in general! You want them to be chewy and delicious! Bake these until just golden on top, and allow to cool completely before cutting!
My oven takes about 25 minutes at 350 F; however, your oven may be slightly different than mine. Check them at 20 minutes. You don’t want the edges to be too golden, they’ll become crispy! You also don’t want the center to be too gooey – there is a sweet spot you want to catch where they are perfectly done!
The Recipe
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup 2 sticks room-temperature unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg room-temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 scant teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Cream the butter & sugar: this step is incredibly important! Make sure the butter is room temperature, not melted. Combine the butter & sugars in a large mixing bowl, and using an electric mixer cream them together until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract: once the butter and sugar is creamed together, add the egg and vanilla extract. Again, use an electric mixer to cream the ingredients until light and fluffy.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined: Fold in the: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Do not over-mix! Over-mixing can cause the bars to deflate in the middle after baking.
- Stir in the chocolate chips (my favorite is Guittard).
- Press the dough into a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Using a 9"×13" pan will produce the best results and the most cookie bars!
- Bake until golden: bake the chocolate chip cookie bars for about 25 minutes at 350 F. Remove the cookies when they are *just* golden on top. Do not over bake these cookie bars, you want them to be chewy and delicious, rather than crispy.
- Allow the bars to cool for at least 10 minutes, then cut into 18 squares and enjoy!
I made these! They turned out great… thank you for sharing!
So good! Easy recipe, great texture and not overly sweet. Thank you!
I made these as chocolate chip cookies and its the yummiest recipe I’ve found. Thanks for sharing!
I had a recipe with coconut oatmeal raisins and guittard chips. I got it a very long time ago on back of chips bag and can’t find recipe anywhere.