I’m going to try not to obsess over these chocolate chip cookie bars. Well, it’s a plan anyway.
I made these chocolate chip cookie bars for my best friend’s son’s 1st birthday party last weekend. I was crazy about them from the moment they came out of the oven. I was so anxious to cut into them. I must have asked my husband at least ten times if they were cool enough to dive into (and still be pretty enough to photograph). Seriously, all bets are off if I’m just making a batch for us… they just need to be cool enough to eat without melting your tongue. I don’t even care about getting warm chocolate everywhere. Mmm, warm and gooey chocolate chip cookie bars… is there anything better? Yeah, I’m hooked.
A week later, with not a crumb around, I’m still dreaming about these heavenly treats. I pretty much want to make a batch of these bars for everyone that I know, like this weekend. It gives me a good excuse to eat them again because I of course I must taste test them to “make sure they are good.”
These bars are merely a giant chocolate chip cookie in convenient bar form. It’s a lot like a giant hand pie, only made of cookie. Instead of going through all the trouble of making them one at a time, you just have to mash the whole bowl of dough into the pan and hack them up when they come out of the oven.
By the way, I scrape every last drop of cookie dough out of the bowl. I hate seeing chefs on TV leave so much behind. Hello, you could have made more cookies with the batter you left behind! Yes, I talk to the TV sometimes. (Note to self, do not take blog pictures wearing a bright orange shirt because the shiny measuring cups will reflect the color.)
I’ve been looking for a simple chocolate chip cookie bar recipe for a while. I can never get tired of a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie, but sometimes I just want something a little different. These are crazy easy to make, they pack all of the cookieness you could hope for, you never have to worry about them spreading too much, and if you think about it they are sort of like brownies that aren’t just standard brownies. How many great things can be rolled up into a single recipe?
These bars are so dreamy and delicious. They are are chewy on the inside, not cake-y at all. If I wanted a cake I would have baked one instead. Although, a little frosting on top of these wouldn’t be a bad idea. 😉 (My husband thinks it would be a terrible idea, but maybe the sweet tooth is not strong with him.) I’m thinking that would be more socially acceptable than frosting a cookie… reason #127 for why these cookie bars are awesome.
The cookie base here is absolutely spot on in flavor town. My husband would say that that’s what really makes a bangin’ chocolate chip cookie and I happen to agree. Yes, the chocolate matters in a chocolate chip cookie… of course. But with a great cookie base you can turn it into your latest obsession. 😉
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
(Makes 24 bars)
Ingredients:
- 3 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (equivalent to 13.7 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, softened (equivalent to 1 and 1/2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and set it aside. I like to lay parchment paper in the pan so it is easier to remove the whole thing easily, but this is not required if you want to cut them straight out of the pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, white sugar, dark brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the eggs.
- Gradually beat in the dry ingredients.
- Gently stir in the chocolate morsels.
- Spread the cookie dough in the prepared baking pan.
- Bake it for 24 to 28 minutes or until golden brown.
Adapted from: Very Best Baking
Here are some other kick butt chocolate chip goodie recipes.
Wow, these look perfectly cooked! Delicious and chewy 🙂 Pinning!
Thank you! Have a beautiful weekend!
Ah those remind me of those classic toll house bars my mother used to make…good times! 🙂 These look perfect, so chewy and thick 😀
You are spot on!!
These are absolute perfection!
Thanks! 🙂
These came out SO YUMMY!!! And they were super easy! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m so glad that you enjoyed these, Anna!!
These were lovely! Chewy, not too sweet, and so easy to put together. Thank you 😀
Emilie, thank YOU for stopping by and letting me know that you love these!!
I loved these! So did my neighbor (who is a fantastic baker!) and everyone else who tried them. I have been looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie bar, and my search is over. The taste was amazing-absolutely delicious! Others I have tried are too sweet. These bake perfectly level and brown evenly. Others have risen on the edges and start to get to brown before the middle gets cooked enough. Thank you so much!!
Meg, I’m so glad that you love this recipe and thank you for letting me know! This is a family favorite. 🙂
Delicious! I kept them in the oven 10 minutes longer. Thank you for the pin ..will be making them often
I’m so glad you hear it! Thank you for stopping by!
Have you ever tried doubling this and using a bigger pan? We love these so much and one pan is never enough lol! Actually I was wanting to make them to take to a party and wanted to have more
Hi Risa. I am so glad that you love this recipe! I don’t have a bigger pan so I have never tried doubling this recipe. My sister has a big family so she makes 2 pans (9 x 13 inch each) of this at the same time. I think that’s easiest (for her at least) because she has 2 pans, they fit in her oven, and she doesn’t have to figure out doubling the recipe.
Let me know if you end up experimenting and thank you so much for stopping by!
Tina, I have double this several times now and thought I better let you know. It works great. And makes it nice not to have to make two batches.
Hi Risa! Yay!! I appreciate you stopping by and letting me know. 🙂