Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are chewy chocolate chip bars. There’s no mixer, no chilling, and no shaping required for this easy recipe!
I love chocolate chip cookies. However, sometimes it’s nice to mix it up with a simple bar cookie recipe.
These chewy cookie bars are ready – start to finish – in 30 minutes and are made with simple ingredients. The dough is easy to mix by hand, so you won’t even need to break out a hand mixer or stand mixer.
These quick bars are a great option when you want an easy dessert. They’re an easy way to enjoy a batch of cookies without all the work of making regular cookies!
Ingredient notes
- Butter: The butter should be just barely melted. If the butter is too hot, it can give you greasy cookie bars.
- Brown sugar: I use light brown sugar in this recipe. Dark brown sugar will also work. It will give you more caramel notes in the bars.
- Flour: To keep these bars soft and chewy, be sure to properly measure the flour. Weighing the flour will give you the most accurate measurements. If you’d like to use a measuring cup, sift or stir the flour to break it up. Then lightly spoon it into the measuring cup and level. You don’t want to pack the flour or the bars will be heavy and dry.
- Salt: Or use 1/4 teaspoon of table salt. Sea salt can also be used in place of the kosher salt.
- Chocolate chips: Feel free to use dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or even white chocolate chips if you prefer.
How to make chocolate chip cookie bars
Step 1: Melt the butter. Stir in sugars until well-combined.
Step 2: Add the egg and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
Step 3: Stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) into the wet ingredients just until combined.
Step 4: Fold in chocolate chips.
Step 5: Spread the cookie dough into the square pan.
Step 6: Bake until golden brown. The edges should look set, but the center should be soft.
Recipe Tips!
- Sweetness: I like a good salty/sweetness balance to my chocolate chip cookies, so I used salted butter along with the salt. If you like your cookies on the sweeter side, use unsalted butter or cut back on the salt in these.
- Mixing: I recommend mixing this dough by hand. It’s easy to do, and it helps to prevent overworking the dough.
- These bars are similar to blondies. These bars have a nice, chewy edge to them (similar to a great chewy brownie edge), and they stayed soft for two days (they’ve never lasted any longer in my house).
Storage
Store any leftover bar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. The bars are best eaten within the first 2-3 days.
More chocolate chip cookie recipes!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 8×8 square baking pan
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled slightly
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅛ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Adjust the oven rack to middle position.
- Grease an 8X8-inch pan. Set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined.6 tablespoons butter, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour, salt, and baking soda into the butter mixture until just combined; do not overmix.1 ⅛ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Fold in the chocolate chips.¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
- Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, about 15-20 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
Video
Notes
- To melt the butter, I microwave it until it is melted about 90% of the way. Then, I whisk it until it is completely melted. Butter that’s too hot can give you greasy cookie bars.
- I recommend mixing this dough by hand. It’s easy to do, and it helps to prevent overworking the dough.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition
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Originally published 4/11/12.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Jules says
Is it light brown sugar or dark?
Kate says
You can use either. Dark brown sugar will give you richer flavor and a bit more molasses flavor.
Kathy says
I don’t have any butter. Can I use oil instead?
Kate says
I don’t recommend using oil as it isn’t going to give you the same flavor in the cookie bars.
Susan says
This recipe is pretty damn good. I will check out other recipes you have posted. Thanks.
Kate says
Thank you!
Taryn says
We’ve made this recipe twice in one week. It’s that good! I’m wondering if you’d recommend any changes for high altitude. Mine don’t look like yours do in the picture, but they’re still delicious! Thanks for an advice you can share, and for this delicious recipe!
Kate says
Thank you! Absolutely! I don’t have a way to test for high altitude, so I defer to King Arthur Flour for changes. They have a great guide for high altitude bakingg that gives recommended changes. The guide breaks down the changes by altitude and by type of baked good. I hope that it helps!
Debbie says
Hi, I posted the other day asking if the given temperature was wrong because my bars took longer to bake. You said no, so adding time is easy enough. Now, I wanted to give you a variation I made today. I was out of chocolate chips. So, I substituted a cup of chopped walnuts. And I added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the flour mix
All I can say is 😋
Yanira Vargas says
Such an easy recipe!! I made them today and they were delicious!! Soft and chewy 😍
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad you liked them!
Debbie says
Easy and delicious, but I have to bake them for 33 minutes at 325°. Was the temperature given a misprint?
Kate says
Hi! Thanks! No, oven temperatures and timing can vary quite a bit. You may find that you need to adjust the timing for your oven, and it sounds like you were able to make it work!
Lisa says
You had me at “melted butter & no chilling!” I just made these because my grandchildren needed a bright spot in their day. So easy & so delicious. This recipe will go in the cookbook I’m making of all of their favorites. Thank you for posting this one.
Vicki says
I loved making these, thank you! I have already made your easy chocolate chip cookies and the easiest chocolate chocolate chip cookies, both came out great! I loved making the cookie bars, I used a metal pan and they are all gone, you are right 2 days max LOL.
Kate says
I’m so glad to hear that! =) Haha! Yes! We can’t keep them around any longer!
Sarah Endarawes says
I used a glass pan (8 by 8) since I didn’t have a metal one and since I didn’t have brown sugar, I mixed regular white granulated sugar with some molasses (I use tis trick all the time for all things that need brown sugar and it works amazing :)) and I also baked mine for 27 minutes at 165 C
IT TASTED INCREDIBLE AND WAS VERY EASY TO MAKE
DEFINETELY GOING TO MAKE THIS AGAIN!!
Sarah Endarawes says
Oh actually I put it in for 32 minutes and set the heat up a bit higher to 180 C after about 25 minutes.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad! And thanks for sharing your tips. =)
Adri says
They were a hit tonight. Easy to follow. Made them with dark chocolate and salted butter. So yummy. Thank you
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad you liked them! =)
Bela Shenoy says
These bars were so quick and easy to make and came out perfect! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked them! =)
Linda says
Have you tried doubling the recipe for a 9×13 pan?
Kate says
I have. Doubling works well in a 9×13, and I baked them for about 25/30 minutes.
Ellee Russell says
Hi, these look absolutely delicious. We are currently running low on sugar and it might be a while before we get some. The only sugar subs that we have around are maple syrup and honey. Do you have any ideas about how I substitute these in for sugar?
Thanks!
Kate says
Hi! Thank you! Honey or maple syrup usually subs in at somewhere between 1/2 – 3/4 cup for every 1 cup of sugar. It also requires reducing the amount of liquid in the recipe and sometimes means adjustment in oven temp and leavening. Cookies are one of the hardest types of baked goods to make that sub, so I’m not sure that honey or maple syrup will work well in this recipe. I wish that I had a better answer, but I would hate for you to waste your ingredients.
Allie says
These are SO. GOOD. I had to bake for 27 mins in my oven but they turned out perfectly with that timing. Thank you!! Still chewy and delicious the next day!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked them. Thanks for commenting! =)
Alicia Kelton says
Made this for my husband and I last night for a quick and easy sweet treat during one of our shows. I ended up using 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp organic virgin coconut oil instead of all butter, and baked it in a glass baking dish instead of a metal pan greased with coconut oil and lined with parchment(not wax) paper. I mixed it all in one bowl, tossing in the dry ingredients last. I noticed I had to turn the oven up to 350 instead of 325 for the glass pan, and I added an extra 5 minutes to the cooking time. But, even after these little tweaks, they turned out AMAZING! I was a tad worried at the 20 minute mark because the top didn’t look golden enough and the edges hadn’t really pulled away from the parchment paper yet. The extra cooking time didn’t dry the bars out and they are still SUPER chewy and even have a slight crunch on the outside. These cookie bars are LEGIT!! I would recommend letting it cool to room temp to get prettier cuts, but we cut into it when it was still really warm and it still held up nicely. Ooey gooey goodness. Plopped a nice dollop of vanilla bean ice cream on top and it’s totally drool worthy. Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe! This is our new go to for chocolate chip cookies! Quicker and easier than making a whole batch of cookies. Can’t wait to check out all of your other recipes. <3 from AZ <3
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so happy that you liked them! Using part coconut oil sounds delicious. =) Thanks for your notes and for your comment!
Janet Stuiber says
Hi. My printed version recipe (full size) did not include
baking soda or butter measurements.
I had to check my iPhone recipe to find this info. & copy it off of that.
I have a new printer in my office & I use it for my Graphics business, so, FYI …Btw – this looks like a Perfect recipe for
a 1 person household (I can freeze in individual bars)
& in an 8×8 pan – Not a humongous 13 x9 pan & no mixer!
Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you for letting me know about that! It must be a glitch, and I’ll look into it. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the bars! =)
Ellspeth says
Not sure what’s up here. By the time I was done mixing the batter was too thick to pour and after 20mins of baking the dough is still very wet. I stirred in a heaping TB of Guittard baking cocoa so either that was a bad idea or this recipe is a dud. Added another 20mins to the clock and crossing my fingers, but won’t use this one again.
Kate says
I’m sorry to hear that you’re having trouble! I’ve made this recipe several times. I’ve also gotten comments from other people who have successfully made it, so I’m guessing that something went wrong. Did you change any other ingredients while you were making it?
Jess says
Love!! Super easy and really yummy!
Sjusan says
These bars are awesome! I like that they are made in an 8 by 8 pan. The butter is melted so no waiting for it to soften. The bars are a favorite here!
Kate says
I’m so glad!! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Vanessa says
I just made these and they are yummy. Thank you for the recipe!
Kate says
Glad you liked them! Thanks!