Skip the scooping and make your chocolate chip cookies in a pan instead! These soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are an easy-to-make treat loaded with melty semisweet chocolate chips inside a buttery soft cookie bar! No chilling or scooping required!
Recipe includes a brief instructional video on how to make chocolate chip cookie bars!
I should’ve named these chocolate chip cookie bars “Lazy Bars” because growing up, that’s exactly what they were to me.
I know I mentioned before that I grew up baking as much as I possibly could, but to be honest my love of baking didn’t start so much as a love of the actual process as it did as a love of stealing unsupervised spoonful after spoonful of raw cookie dough or frosting (or whatever was on my radar for that day).
Chocolate Chip Cookies were always my favorite, but when it came to actually baking the cookies I always either tried to bribe my sister into doing the work of scooping and baking them or I would just pour the batter into a pan and bake the cookies that way. Easy and done.
And while you can generally just take any chocolate chip cookie recipe and bake it into a pan and call it a day, I found that this technique usually yielded less than totally desirable results. The bars were usually too tough, too crumbly, too unsatisfying after being baked.
I wanted soft, chewy, and buttery chocolate chip cookie bars, and that method left a lot to be desired.
So, I went to work and started tweaking things:
- Melted butter (rather than softened) that coats every molecule of the cookie dough for the best, butteriest taste.
- More brown sugar than white for more moisture and better flavor.
- An added egg yolk for softer, chewier, more tender cookie bars
- A spoonful of cornstarch, which is basically my secret ingredient for soft baked goods
- A reduction of the leaveners (less baking powder and no baking soda) because the cookie bars are contained in a pan so there was no need to worry about containing any spreading
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
The result was the best chocolate chip cookie bars I’d ever made. Just as soft, chewy, buttery, and delicious as their cookie counterparts, but no scooping (and no chilling!) required.
Please note that because of the changes that were made, this cookie dough can’t be used to make actual cookies and only works when baked in a pan, trying to scoop and bake them would leave you with cookie pancakes that spread all over your cookie sheet!
Enjoy!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
If you enjoy these videos, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and then cooled for at least 5 minutes (226g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar tightly packed (200g)
- 3/4 cup sugar (150g)
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (285g)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (340g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare a 9x13 pan by lining with parchment paper (or lightly grease and flour).
- Combine melted (cooled) butter and sugars in a large bowl, stir well.
- Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake on 350F (175C) for 25-30 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown.
- Allow to cool before cutting and serving (don't cool too long, though -- these are amazing when served still slightly warm!)
Notes
Nutrition
Cath says
I want to freeze these so that my grandkids can have them for their packed lunches. How well do they freeze? Thank you.
Sam says
I have not tried freezing them, but you shouldn’t have any issues doing so. Just make sure they are wrapped tightly and then stored in an air tight container. 🙂
Cath says
Just pulled these out of the oven, baked for my grandkids lunches. I had to try a corner and OMG, these are amazing!
I have stopped looking for an easy chocolate chip bar. Your changes are spot on.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Cath! 🙂
Tiffany says
OMG … just made these. Absolute perfection! I have been looking for a decent chocolate chip cookie bar for ages. I will look no further! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Tiffany! 🙂
Katie Dunagan says
I would like to adapt this to a recipe using quick oats and cookie butter. Could I just add those to this recipe, or do I need to tweak some things?
Sam says
I’m sorry, Katie. I have not tried these types of adaptations so I am not sure how it would work. If it works for you, I’d love to know how it turned out. 🙂
Kelley Albright says
I sort of made these yesterday and they were fantastic! I did not melt my butter, room temp, used 3 whole cold eggs and 60% bittersweet chocolate! Yum! Thank you Sam!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Kelley! 🙂
Annie Ryan says
OMG, these cookie bars are amazing. I make them for my high school kids that have been out shoveling and just loves the warm surprise when they can in!! Will definitely be making them again, thanks for sharing!!
Sam says
I’m so happy to hear you and your kids enjoyed them!! Thank you for commenting, Annie! <3
Chris J. says
Am making a double pan to send back to college with my son. He and his buddies will devour them tomorrow during Super Bowl! Thank you so much for the easy recipe. It came together quick and tastes great!
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Chris!
Sir Pots says
Made a couple times now and they don’t come out done… Checked my oven temp and it’s right on. Also seems heavy on the chocolate chips, and I say that as a fan. Still delicious.
Sam says
Hi, I’m not sure why they wouldn’t be coming out done in that amount of time for you, but I would just recommend baking them a bit longer, then. Easy fix 🙂
Glad you otherwise enjoyed!
JoAnn Stone says
MADE these at Christmas and were a hit. My husband likes how chewy they are. Saw you make them on the Kitchen. They were kind of hard after 2 days COVERED with plastic wrap.
Sam says
Hi Joanne! I don’t really recommend just covering them in plastic wrap as that typically isn’t tight enough to keep the air out. They will dry out if left out, an air tight container is a better option if you have one. I am glad you enjoyed them though! 🙂
JoAnn Stone says
My family loves how chewy they are. MADE them at Christmas and were a hit. They were kind of hard in 2 days covered with plastic wrap. Saw you make these on the Kitchen.
Sam says
Hi JoAnn! was the plastic wrap airtight? They should be able to keep longer than 2 days before losing their softness.
Mia says
This recipe is a hit! I made it in a heart-shaped pan for Valentine’s and my coworkers and family gobbled it up. Thanks!
Sam says
You have some lucky co-workers, Mia! That’s very kind of you to bake for them! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it! 😃
Tayelor says
I feel compelled to start with OMG like other reviewers, these bars are seriously that good. I had never made a bar type cookie but I ran across the idea on another page(Tollhouse) but their review were terrible. So I landed here somehow and boy I’m sure glad I did.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂