Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are baked in a pan, a quick and super easy chocolate chip cookie recipe with no mixer and no chilling. You’ll love how soft and buttery these are!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Well, Hello Spring. We’ve been waaaaaaaaiting for you!
This date, March 20th, holds so much more significance for our family than saying “Goodbye, Winter”, however. It’s also my dad’s birthday AND Hatti’s birthday. Yes, our oldest daughter was born on the same day as my dad…and just two days after Blake’s dad’s birthday.
To celebrate with a recipe here on the blog, I’m sharing another chocolate chip cookie related recipe, in honor of Hatti’s love for chocolate chip cookies. My dad would definitely not pass up a good CCC, either!
This year, it’s all about enjoying those chocolate chip cookie flavors, with easy-to-make bars.
(Last year I shared this Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, and the year before that this Cookie Monster Ice Cream that’s stuffed with cookie dough.)
You’re going to appreciate the fact that you can whip up a pan of these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars in less than 15 minutes. But even more than that, you’re going to love how buttery, chewy, and absolutely fantastic these cookie bars are. I promise!
We just spent the past week of Spring Break on the gulf coast of Florida, staying with my sister’s family. My parents were also there.
My sister and her husband are boat club members, and got us out on the water several times. The sun’s warmth was healing, the very best cure for our long Minnesota winter.
And having our daughter and her grandpa together just a week before their birthday, well you know that called for some early celebrating!
Bar recipes always win!
I realize that these chocolate chip bars may not look the most celebratory when it comes to a birthday treat. It’s not exactly a 3-layer cake piled high with buttercream, adorned in sprinkles.
But I can’t imagine anyone turning down one of these chewy treats, any day of the year.
They are a chocolate chip cookie party in a pan. I think that bar recipes always win!
I also know how Hatti likes to bake a pan of her favorite brownies to treat her friends. The brownies are quick and easy to make, an old family recipe, and always disappear FAST.
So my sharing this new cookie bar recipe does serve another purpose. It’s another easy and especially wonderful recipe that I’m sure Hatti will find herself making for her friends, for many years to come.
This recipe is a great way to quickly cure any CCC craving.
How to get perfect cuts
To achieve clean cuts to bars, brownies, and cakes, I’m a big fan of lining the pan with foil or parchment paper. I prefer to use heavy duty foil for this recipe, and to let the foil overhang on the long sides of the pan.
Then, after cutting around the perimeter of the pan, simply grab the foil overhangs and lift the bars out of the pan. Place the bars on a cutting board and cut into individual pieces.
Like so!
If you have a rigid pastry cutter, it does double-duty as a great bar-cutting tool.
How to double a 9×13 recipe
Sometimes a 9×13 pan of bars just isn’t enough. Especially when they’re THIS GOOD!
When you’re looking to feed a crowd, just double the recipe. Simply grab a 13×18 pan with 1″ sides. Then double the ingredients and follow the recipe instructions.
The dough is quite thick anyway. And when doubling the recipe, the mixing is a bit of a workout. But I know you can do it!
Spread the dough out evenly in the pan.
Then bake the bars at the same 325 degrees Fahrenheit, but increase the baking time to 29 to 30 minutes, taking care to not over bake. Now you’ll have TWICE AS MANY of the same soft, chewy, and delicious cookie bars!
Happy Birthday, Hatti and Dad! We love you!
(See? All you need are some candles. Instant birthday party!)
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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon 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 teaspooons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips plus a bit more for sprinkling over the top of the dough – we like Guittard semisweet chocolate chips
- sea salt flakes optional
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. Or, if you want really clean cuts, line the pan with heavy duty foil, letting the excess hang over the edges on the long sides of the pan. Then lightly spray the foil-lined pan with non-stick spray. This will allow you to pull up on the foil and lift the bars out of the pan.
- 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 mixture. 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 very thick. Press evenly into pan using a spatula and/or your fingertips. (Tip: Dough mixture can be sticky. Use the buttery side of the butter wrapper to press the dough into the pan – or simply rub your finger tips with a little butter, and then press the dough into the pan.) 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 might even recommend to slightly under bake! Remove pan to wire rack. If desired, sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the top right after the pan comes out of the oven – YUM! Cool to room temperature and then cut into pieces. If using a foil lining, first cut around the perimeter of the pan to loosen, and then lift bars from pan using the foil overhangs. Transfer to cutting board and cut into squares with a knife or rigid pastry cutter.
Where is your Print button? If it’s on your site, I couldn’t find it.
Hi Barbara – it’s in the recipe card, directly below the photo. A rectangle that says “Print”. Enjoy the bars!
Hi Brenda,
I am planning on making these for a bake sale at my school and I was wondering if I could pre-make the dough two days ahead of time and then bake them on the day of the sale.
Just made these…reallr moist! I will freeze half because there are only the two of us. But for those who will be keeping for several days, lay a slice of bread in container it will help to keep them just baked moist, works for cookies too!
So glad you liked! Thanks for the tip. :)
I was wondering if anyone has made a double batch of these & put it in a jelly roll pan (13 x 18)? Would making a double batch be to much for this size pan?
Thanks,
Judy
Wondering the same thing. I want to make these for about 30 kids and a 9×13 will not cut it.
Hi Sarah – please read my comment to Judy. :)
Just made them today. The whole family is in love
Hello Judy – I just experimented with this. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 13 x 18 pan with 1″ sides. There is alot of thick dough when you’re mixing at the end, but it works great. I baked mine for 30 minutes and think they’re perfectly done. I made them last night, and of course we had to eat a couple warm. :) Now I’m cutting up the rest to take to our daughter’s volleyball tourney. And as I’m cutting through the entire pan, it’s all baked perfectly – soft and chewy and delicious!
These are delicious! Due to the egg allergy of a party guest, I used flax/ water combo as an egg substitute. Still perfect.
Hi Mandy – thank you for coming back. I love to know you made this work for your guest!
Came across this recipe from a google search and decided to give it a try as I was raised a SD girl too! They are the BEST pan cookies EVER. Buttery yumminess and the perfect amount of chocolate chips. So easy to make; I will never make another regular chocolate cookie again.
YAY!!! I’m so glad you agree. :)
These are amazing! Can’t keep a batch more than a day!
I tried to make these, using the correct pan size and following the recipe as written, and they’re still raw after 30 minutes. What am I doing wrong?
We always use a metal 9″ x 13″ pan. Are you using a different kind of pan?
Turned out great- so yummy! I used salted butter and needed to cook quite a bit longer with my oven. Thanks for the great recipe!
These turned out great….nice brown color moist and chocolatey!
So glad to hear this. Thanks, Heather!
I just made these! Haven’t had a chance to cut into them yet but I’m excited! I was a little worried about the dough since it wasn’t quite the same as other cookie dough. Seemed dry and hard to mix in the chocolate chips. But coming out of the oven it looks like your picture so.. fingers crossed!!!
Oh wow! So good! They are super chocolaty and so soft!
Yay! So glad you like these CCC bars!!
Why does it call for 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk?
Hi Ashley – yolks add more richness, moisture, and flavor.
Do these bars stay soft for a while or do they harden?
Hi Morgan – the bars are best/softest/chewiest during that first 24 hours after baking. They’ll still be soft after that, but do get a bit drier as time goes on. But they never last long around here!
Best recipe for Chocolate Chip anything I have ever made. Is chewy from the time they come out till whenever you finish them. Every time I make them everyone ask for the recipe. Great combo of sweet with a hint of salt. I actually use salted butter and it makes them better! My go to recipe!!!
I LOVE to hear this, Beth! Thanks for coming back to let me know. :)
I am so looking forward to trying it out tomorrowI am wondering if I can use 14 x 11 inch pan instead and it is 2 inches high? Or would it turn out too thin? Would a 9 by 13 be better? If you can let me know please? If it is a nonstick pan do I still need to put foil and spray the foil?
Thank you so much
Hi Miriam – A 14 x 11 would definitely make a thinner bar. I haven’t tried that size – if you do, this will take less time to bake. With a 9 x 13 pan, you will get the same thickness as what you see in my photos – that’s what I use. You do not need to use foil and nonstick spray – only if you want those super clean cuts, so you can lift it out of the pan to cut. I also recommend a metal pan for best results.
THANK You for the recipe! Theae are easy and delicious!
Yay! So glad you like! :)
I clearly messed something up somewhere because I had to cook these almost double the time. They were completely wet after 30 min , turned heat up to 350 and cooked another 10 min.
You’re not alone! I had the exact same problem. They came out raw following the specified directions.
Did you use the correct size pan? I just made them and they were perfectly done in 25 minutes.
I had the same problem, as well. I cooked them in a glass pan, not metal, so maybe that is the difference. I had to cook mine 40ish minutes, but they were PERFECT.
Hi!! These look delicious! I am going to make them for a potluck, how are they the next day? May want to make them in advance. Thank you!!
Hi! These look delicious! I am going to make them for a potluck, how are they the next day? May want to make them in advance. Thank you!!
Great bars!!! Loved them down to the last bar!!!
Tried these on a whim. They are so delicious. The recipe is on point. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you liked these CCC bars! Thanks for coming back to let me know. :)