Skip the scooping and make your chocolate chip cookies in a pan instead! These buttery, soft and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars require no mixer, no chilling, and no fuss. Recipe includes a how to video.
Chocolate Chip Cookies, the Lazy Way
These chocolate chip cookie bars are the dessert you’re looking for when you’re having a lazy day and are in need of a cookie fix. When you’re craving all the goodness of a warm, chewy chocolate chip cookie, but can’t muster the energy to whip out the electric mixer, let alone the patience to scoop and rotate baking sheets.
With no mixer, no chilling, and no scooping, these chocolate chip cookie bars are your perfect lazy-day dessert. They’re just as soft, chewy, buttery, and delicious as their cookie counterparts, but they take a fraction of the time to prepare.
Whether you’re in need a quick sugar fix, a last-minute party or potluck dish, or you just don’t have the energy to scoop a single cookie, I’ve got you covered. Let’s get right to it.
What You Need
As we’ve already established, making perfectly chewy cookie bars isn’t as simple as dropping a regular cookie dough recipe in a pan. Instead, you want a dough that’s designed to be enjoyed in bar form. Here’s how to make it:
- Melted butter. Melted butter (rather than softened) coats every molecule of the cookie dough for the best, buttery taste. Just remember to let it cool for a few minutes before adding it!
- Light brown sugar + granulated sugar. We’ll use more brown sugar than white for more moisture (softer cookie bars!) and better flavor.
- Eggs + an extra yolk. I added an extra egg yolk for chewier, more tender cookie bars.
- Flour. Use your average all-purpose flour here.
- Cornstarch. This is my secret ingredient for soft baked goods! Cornstarch also prevents the cookie bars from being too cakey–after all, they are cookie bars, not cake bars.
- Baking powder. This recipe uses less leaveners than your average chocolate chip cookie since the cookie bars are contained in a pan.
- Vanilla + salt. Because you can’t have flavorful chocolate chip cookies without these two!
- Chocolate chips. My preference is to use semisweet chips, but if want to use another kind, feel free.
If you’re like me, you might also want to grab some vanilla ice cream to serve alongside these bars while they’re warm. Or, you can let them cool and eat them cookie-style too!
SAM’S TIP: I like to reserve a handful of chocolate chips for sprinkling on top of the bars just before baking. This ensures that the tops of the bars will have a perfectly studded surface!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Combine the cooled butter and sugars. Add your eggs and vanilla and stir until everything is combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Then, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough into a parchment lined baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F. Let the bars cool slightly before cutting and serving.
SAM’S TIP: This recipe can be made in a 9×13 or 9×9 pan. I prefer using a 9×9 because it results in thicker, chewier bars. If you make yours in a 9×13, the bars will need to bake about 5-10 minutes less.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This dough will keep in the refrigerator for several days. Just make sure to cover it tightly.
This cookie dough is designed to be baked in a baking pan and is not ideal for making actual cookies. If you tried to scoop and bake this dough, you would end up with cookie pancakes that spread all over your cookie sheet! Try my popular chocolate chip cookies instead! 😊
Yes! Just add them in when you add the chocolate chips. Use approximately 1-1 ½ cups of coarsely chopped nuts. Pecans or walnuts are great options!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and then cooled for at least 5 minutes (226g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed (200g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (285g)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (340g)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare a 9×9" (23x23cm) pan (see note) 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 35 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
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These cookie bars may also be frozen.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
elenagraziela
Oh, I adore this recipe. I bake these bars and keep them stocked in my freezer — perfect for when I need a sweet treat when there’s no time to bake. As soon as my freezer stash is low, this recipe is on the list for my next baking day. That’s how good this recipe is.
The differences between this and the blondie recipe are small, but they are crucial. This is truly a cookie in bar form, not a blondie. I modify the recipe slightly — instead of just light brown sugar, I use a mix of light and dark brown sugars. I also reduce the amount of chocolate to 250g, and I use a mixture of chocolates. I’ve always baked this in a 9x13x1 pan and it fills it perfectly — I reduce the baking time about 5 minutes or so. These bars are lovely warm from the oven, but personally, I think they taste better the next day. I generally bake this recipe the day before I need it, let it cool completely, wrap the entire bar tightly in aluminum foil and let set in a cool place or the refrigerator overnight before cutting and wrapping the bars. In my experience, this makes a distinct difference in the flavor and texture of these bars. Well-wrapped, they freeze like a dream.
Thank you for such a lovely recipe. It’s permanently in my baking rotation.
Heidi Prime
Sam,
What happened to your Congo Square recipe? Is this the same?
Sam
This is the exact same recipe. Enjoy 🙂
anna
Have you tested both this recipe with hand weighing and with the scale? I work with HS and prefer to use the scale, but sometimes when it goes from hand weighing the recipe doesn’t turn out the same. I haven’t made yours with a scale, but just made my first my measuring it myself. Just curious more than anything. Thanks.
Sam
Hi Anna! I actually do my recipe development with weights and then convert it to cup measurements. 🙂
Carrie
Made in a 9×13. They were delicious and so much easier than balling up individual cookies but still had that cookie taste as opposed to a bar taste.
Ashly
The taste was great but I could not get the middle to set. It was a gloopy mess and I unable to cut them. What could I be doing wrong?
Sam
Hi Ashly! It sounds like they were under-baked and just needed more time in the oven. Did you bake in a glass pan by chance? It will take a bit longer to bake if so.
tara
Hi! I have a question. How do you think this would be if i added the confetti crumbs on top? I have made this without crumbs and it was so good! Would the crumbs be added before i bake the bar or after?
Thank you in advance!
Sam
Hi Tara! This is something I’ve actually wanted to play with. It’s going to end up cooking like a crumb topping on the cookie bars. I would be a bit worried they would sink too far into the cookie bars. I think a good way around this would be to add a thin ganche topping to the cookie bars after cooking then add the crumble. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Misty
This is definitely the lazy (and best) way of making chocolate chip cookies!!! I think my pan was smaller than a 9×9 so it came out thicker & seemed to taste better the next day.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you liked them, Misty! Thanks for the review 🥰
Pam
Made these today and I am sorry to say my old recipe of 20+ years is going to have to find a new home!! These are amazing!! Not sure why I never thought to use parchment paper, but it makes it so much easier to get out of the pan and cut This is probably the 30th recipe I have made from SSR and not ONE has failed me- thank you 🙂
Jill
We love these chocolate chip cookie bars. Delicious!