Chocolate chip cookie bars are easy to make, with no chilling time required. These soft and chewy cookie bars are filled with melty chocolate chips and are ready in less than an hour.
When you're pressed for time, or don't want to spend all night in the kitchen, a cookie bar recipe is the perfect solution. These chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are ready in less than an hour, and made with simple baking ingredients.
For this recipe, I use my standard chocolate chip cookie dough. The only difference? There's no need to chill your dough, and it's all pressed into a single 9x13 baking pan.
Ingredients and substitutions
Because baking is an exact science, I don't recommend many substitutions in my cookie recipes. Each ingredient is necessary to ensure your cookie bars turn out perfectly.
The chocolate chips can be substituted with your favorite mix-ins - try using your favorite baking chips like white chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips.
You could also add in a cup of chopped nuts, like pecans, walnuts, or peanuts.
Baking your cookie bars
For this recipe, you'll need a 9x13 baking pan. I recommend using parchment paper, so you can easily lift your bars out of the pan to slice once they've cooled.
If you don't have parchment paper on hand, a lightly greased baking pan will also work just fine.
Bake your cookie bars until they are browned all the way across the top. If you'd like, use a toothpick to test for doneness, like you would a cake.
If your toothpick comes out with wet batter, continue baking until they're just cooked through in the center.
Making cookies instead of bars
If you'd like to make this recipe into individual cookies instead of bars, I recommend reading my Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe for complete cookie directions.
Since we're baking these bars in a 9x13 pan, there's no need to worry about dough temperature or possible spreading. However, if you'd like to make this dough into cookies, I recommend chilling the dough for 1 hour beforehand to prevent spreading.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper (or lightly grease) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until fluffy, about a minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
- Scoop dough into 9x13 pan and use a spatula to spread evenly to the edges.
- Bake for 24-28 minutes, or until evenly browned across the top. Optionally, use a toothpick in the center to check for doneness. Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing and serving.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Your cookie bars will keep for 5-7 days in a sealed container. To help keep bars fresh, you can place a slice of bread in the container with the bars. Replace the bread slice as needed.
- You can keep raw cookie dough in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cookie dough (and baked cookies) freeze well, up to 3 months in a sealed plastic container or freezer bag.
- Optionally, add a cup of chopped nuts, like walnuts or pecans, to the dough with your chocolate chips.
This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve made. Easy to make and clean up. These were the hit of the Christmas holidays!