This foolproof recipe has everything you love about your favorite homemade chocolate chip cookies, but baked in a 9×13 pan and no mixer or chilling of the dough needed! An extra egg yolk and brown sugar leads to their soft and chewy texture, and each bite is full of rich butter flavor and loaded with chocolate chips. Whenever I show up with this treat at a potluck or family gathering, these bars are the first thing to disappear!
My Family’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dream-Come-True. In One pan!
There’s nothing like a warm-from-the-oven, soft and chewy homemade chocolate chip cookie. For me, just the thought of it brings a flood of memories — of baking cookies with Mom and my sisters on the farm, and sharing them with family and friends. Mom was never without some CCC’s stashed away in the big chest freezer. And my friends were well aware of that fact, with regular requests for “Barb’s chocolate chip cookies”.
Well, fast-forward a few decades and having a family of my own. Life got real full, real fast.
So my goal became this: a bars recipe that is quicker, easier, and 1000% reliable, with rich butter flavor and soft, chewy texture. Isn’t that just so “Midwest” of me? I adore bars recipes!
The secret to this recipe’s craveworthy success is in the combination of melted butter, an extra egg yolk, and more brown sugar than white sugar (I will never, ever make a chocolate chip cookie that does not include the moistness and deeper molasses flavor of brown sugar!).
Each one of these ingredients unlocks its own individual moist qualities, and when combined with the classic ingredients of a truly great chocolate chip cookie — to include really good chocolate (Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips are my favorite) — this recipe is a soft and chewy force to be reckoned with.
These bars have now become my own family’s go-to. Our oldest daughter Hatti even requested this to be her “birthday cake” one year instead of my mom’s ultimate fudgy brownies, her other favorite. She’s awesome like that, not concerned about following the any birthday cake rules, only asking for what she wants!
“I’ve made these several times now and they are excellent, just excellent! They are a hit with everyone! Easy and over-the-top good!”
—Melody
baking soda is key to the chewy texture
Yes, this is a common baking ingredient, but I love what it does to these bars! You see, when baking soda mixes with brown sugar (which has acid from the molasses), it releases little bursts of carbon dioxide gas (our youngest daughter Tessa would appreciate this little bit of nerdy science as she’s currently in year 2 of her bio-chem degree). This causes the pan of bars to puff up slightly while it’s baking, then sink a bit as it cools. Which is GOOD – this helps to give you that incredible dense, chewy center.
OH, AND ONE LAST THING: DO NOT OVER-BAKE!
Yes, that’s my yelling voice! If your goal is to have the softest, chewiest chocolate chip cookie bars on the planet, it’s VERY IMPORTANT to not over-bake. I’d even go so far as to say, for the ultimate soft bars, slightly under-bake them!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (no mixer!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, gently melted and then cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a bit more for sprinkling over the top of the dough (I recommend Guittard semisweet chocolate chips)
- sea salt flakes, optional for sprinkling over the top (I recommend Maldon Sea Salt Flakes)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly spray a 9" x 13" metal baking pan with non-stick spray. For super clean cuts, see Notes below.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and sugar until combined. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
- With a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. When about half-way combined, add chocolate chips and continue to fold until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Transfer dough to prepared pan. Dough will be thick and sticky. Press evenly into pan using a spatula and/or your fingertips. See Notes below for more pressing tips.
- If desired, sprinkle a few more chocolate chips over the top, pressing them in a bit. It's also fun to sprinkle M&M's over the top – the mini M&M's are our first choice!
- Bake for about 23 minutes or so, or until top is light golden brown and slightly firm to the touch. For the chewiest bars, do not over-bake. I even recommend to slightly under-bake!
- Remove pan to wire cooling rack. Optional: Sprinkle some sea salt flakes over the top IMMEDIATELY (so they stick) after the pan comes out of the oven.
- Let cool to room temperature and then cut into individual bars.
Notes
- Other chocolate. Try milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate chips — or a combination. Or chop up your favorite dark chocolate bar for a more indulgent adultified treat.
- Candies. Our daughters like to sprinkle mini M&M’s over the top.
- Nuts. Throw in some chopped walnuts or pecans for some nutty crunch. I recommend using roasted, salted nuts for the best flavor and texture.
- Counter – To preserve the soft texture, leave the cooled bars in the pan, covered tightly, and store them on the counter for up to 3 days.
- Fridge – Store the bars in the pan, covered tightly, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer – Place bars in an airtight, freezer-safe container, then store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the bars in the fridge before serving.
Nutrition Information:
For the memory book: This photo was taken while staying with my sister’s family in Florida in 2019, when we celebrated our daughter Hatti’s and my dad’s shared birthday with – yes, you guessed it – these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars!
So yummy! I took them out of the oven when still a bit gooey and served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. They were a hit.
Wonderful!!! Thanks for coming back to let me know. :)
These cookie bars were absolutely delicious. My picky eaters were in love with these with the first bite. I don’t
usually leave comments because I always change a bit the recipes but not this one. It was awesome, no need to take or add anything. Thank you for sharing!
Hello Louise – thank you for coming back to leave a comment. I’m so happy you like these bars!! :)
Made these yesterday. I thought about adding some walnuts or toffee bits but it’s perfect just like it is. Nice not to mess with drop cookies. As usual, another great recipe from you, Brenda. Did you have Holsteins on your farm growing up?
Hello Carolyn – thank you for coming back to leave a comment. I’m so happy you liked this recipe, and that you’ve liked others as well! Cows…my dad had some cows when I was very young, so I don’t have much of a memory of the animals (also pigs and chickens). He sold all the livestock when I was little, concentrated on grain farming.
Thanks so much for the recipe :) I’m always looking at ccc recipes and this one was a keeper! My only changes were based on preference – only 1 cup of cc, 1 TB vanilla, 3/4 tsp sea salt, and only 2 c of flour. The kids loved the fact that these were bars – and I truly appreciate the ease of baking bars over drop cookies. Thanks again!
So happy you liked the recipe, Rae! :)
Looks good!! Already printed the recipe.
Enjoy!! :)