Ooey, gooey, chewy, thick chocolate chip cookie bars made from scratch in a 9x13 pan - a true crowd favorite! They are made in one bowl, all mixed up by hand, with no machines required!
This recipe went Tiktok Viral with over 13 million views - watch the video here!
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Quick & Easy Cookie Bars!
This recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars is a mom's best friend and will become one of your go-to favorite recipes. It takes minimal effort (no scooping cookies needed!) and it is perfect for a crowd! They're great for a quick after-school treat or any occasion where you need to feed many people in an easy way. It's like a thick, gooey chocolate chip cookie cake without the fancy decorating!
More cookie bars I love: monster cookie bars, Thick & chewy funfetti blondies & s’more cookie bars!
Tips & tricks for the best chocolate chip cookie bars:
- This cookie bar recipe uses melted butter making them super soft and smooth - this is a crucial part to these cookie bars!
- Do not bake for too long or else you will have a dry cookie bar with a crunchy chocolate exterior.
- Experiment with adding different kinds of chocolate chips. Milk or dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips are all great options! You could even add some M&M's or turn them into kitchen sink cookies with caramel and pretzels.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate treat!
- Store these bars in an airtight container or freeze for later. They last up to 3-4 days, but they taste best within the first 2 days.
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Bars::
This is just an overview of ingredients & substitutions; click here to jump down to the full recipe card for ingredient amounts and instructions.
- Unsalted butter (melted): Salted is also fine here, just omit the added salt. Do not use margarine, as this will be too greasy.
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Baking powder, baking soda, salt
- All-purpose flour: For a gluten-free version, use a gluten-free 1-to-1 flour but I personally like them best with half GF flour, half almond flour (like my chewy gluten-free cookie cake).
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I use Nestle or Costco brand): Feel free to make these with your favorite chocolate chips, chunks, M&M's, or dairy-free chocolate chips!
- 9x13 pan (ideally light-colored metal)
Decorating Ideas for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Make a double batch of my cookie cake buttercream frosting to pipe on a decorative border!
- Top with flaky sea salt for an elevated taste - so, so good!
- Drizzle melted chocolate on top of cookie bars
- Add M&M's, sprinkles, crushed nuts, or almonds inside the dough or on top
Make them and love them? Try my One Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies or my single-serve One Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie next!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:
This is just an overview of ingredients & substitutions; click here to jump down to the full recipe card for ingredient amounts and instructions. Or watch my viral Tiktok video here!
Step 1: Mix Cookie Dough
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray and cover with parchment paper (optional but recommended for easy removal).
In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter (¾ cup), light brown sugar (¾ cup), and granulated sugar (½ cup) and mix until combined. Add in egg, egg yolk, vanilla (2 teaspoons), baking soda (1 teaspoon), baking powder (¼ teaspoon), and salt (½ teaspoon). Mix. Add flour (2 - 2 ¼ cups, see "notes section" in recipe card below regarding flour amounts), ½ cup whole chocolate chips, and ½ cup chopped chocolate chips. Stir until combined.
Tip: Adding the chocolate chips at the same as the flour will help the chips be evenly distributed and prevent them from falling to the bottom of the bowl.
Step 2: Press Cookie Dough Into Pan
Press cookie dough into a greased, parchment-lined 9x13" pan. Once smooth, sprinkle the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips on top and lightly press each into the dough. If you see any chocolate chips stuck together or on the edge of the pan, relocate them. This will help create clean edges when cut!
Step 3: Bake
Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes or until cookie bars are lightly golden brown (do not overbake, you want to underbake slightly for a gooey cookie). Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before cutting into squares/bars! Or don't and eat a warm bar with ice cream (just note that they will look too dough & crumble a bit more when hot but will continue to bake in the hot pan!).
Step 4 (optional): Decorate Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
To decorate chocolate chip cookie bars, you can use some of the following:
- Make a double batch of my cookie cake buttercream frosting to pipe on a decorative border
- Drizzle chocolate on top of cookie bars
- Add M'm's or sprinkle crushed nuts or almonds on top
Frequently Asked Questions
I like these chocolate chip cookie bars best with semi-sweet chocolate chips but you can also use milk chocolate chips! Dark, milk, white chocolate chips would all taste delicious in these bars, as well. Or you can always chop up your favorite chocolate bar or leftover Halloween candy for super delicious cookie bars.
The cookie bars freeze well after being baked and cooled completely. To freeze, cool the bars completely before placing them into an airtight container or freezer bag for storage. They will keep in the freezer for 1-2 months.
I used a 9x13 metal baking pan and it turned out to be the perfect size for these thick bar cookies. If you bake these in a smaller pan, you will want to use less dough (freeze the extra and bake into cookies later!) and will just need to increase the baking time.
You can also use glass, just take note that the cookie bars may need longer to bake. In general, I always recommend using metal baking pans for cookie bars.
This cookie bar recipe yields approximately 24 servings, depending on how large you cut them. For cookie platters, I like cutting these in smaller 1-2" bite-sized pieces.
Check out some of my other tried-and true cookie bar recipes:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (not margarine) You will be melting this
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 yolk (i.e. 1 whole egg + 1 extra egg yolk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour *see notes section below, you can add an extra ¼ cup flour if your dough is too runny
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (½ cup whole chips + ½ cup chopped chips in dough, then ½ sprinkled on top)
Before you begin! If you make this, will you do me a huge favor and leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe? This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Instructions
- If you made this recipe prior to 3/28/22, I’ve since made a few tweaks as some readers were having trouble with them being too cakey. See notes section below for what I changed!
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place ½ cup of chocolate chips on a cutting board and use a knife to chop into small pieces. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, melt the unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e. 1 ½ sticks) for 20-30 seconds until JUST melted. (If your butter is steaming, let it cool down for a few minutes. Butter that is too hot can result in greasy bars and/or will cause the eggs to cook.)
- Add in granulated sugar (½ cup) and light brown sugar (¾ cup) and use a spatula to stir until combined (* do not use a mixer!). Add in eggs (1 whole + 1 extra egg yolk) and vanilla extract (2 teaspoons). Mix until combined.
- Stir in baking soda (1 teaspoon), baking powder (¼ teaspoon), and salt (½ teaspoon). Add in all-purpose flour (2 cups), ½ cup whole chocolate chips, and the ½ cup of chopped chocolate chips. Mix until all the flour disappears into the dough. Immediately proceed to the next step.
- Press dough into a greased or parchment-lined metal 9x13" pan until smooth. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup whole chocolate chips on top and gently press each one into the dough.
- Bake at 350°F for 16-18 minutes until edges and top are lightly golden brown. Do not overbake or your chocolate chip cookie bars will not be soft. You want the cookie bars to be lightly brown on the top and look slightly underbaked (my oven was perfect at 16 minutes). Remove from oven and place entire pan on a cooling rack.
- Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before removing from pan. Slice into 24 squares, then enjoy! To keep fresh, cover pan with saran wrap or place bars in airtight continer for up to 3 days (after that they start to dry out). See notes below for freezing tips.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting me know how you liked this recipe! This helps my small business thrive so I can continue providing free recipes and high-quality content for you.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
It's that easy! Now go and make these ultimate chocolate chip cookie bars! They're super-duper delicious and everyone will love them... guaranteed! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment below and tag me on Instagram @designeatrepeat. Enjoy xo!
Beth L Rossiter says
Yum yummy!!
As per my usual I did decrease the sweet to just one cup of light brown sugar and instead of chopping chocolate chips I used a darker cocoa bar and it was so good!!
Melissa says
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar recipe, Beth! Thanks so much for taking time to leave a review!
Jessica says
Sooo gooooodddd!!! My kids and I ate them in one night! I usually try recipes and always mess something up but this is the second recipe from you that I’ve tried and they both came out amazing! Steps are super easy to follow Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try others!
Melissa says
I'm so glad your family loved the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, Jessica! I'm all about keeping it simple. Thanks so much for taking time to leave a review!
Alison says
I'm so sorry to give a negative review, but these turned out just awful. Absolutely swimming in butter. So disappointed as they were for a bake sale tomorrow and now I'll have to start all over with something else. I followed the recipe exactly. Really not sure what happened.
Melissa says
Hi, Alison! I'm so sorry this didn't work out for you. We haven't seen this issue before. Just out of curiosity, what kind of butter did you use?
Elle says
These are my go to chocolate chip cookie bars!! The flavor and texture are to die for. They never last long in our house!
Melissa says
I'm so glad you love these cookies, Elle! Thanks for taking time to leave a review!
Shelly says
I made these . I did not use one and a half cups of chips just one . I did use plant avocado butter . These turned out great . They were not too sweet and had a great texture and flavor . The kids loved them for the birthday party ! My mom always made these growing up . I did not put any salt in them at all . Thank you for Thai recipe.
Melissa says
I'm so glad you all enjoyed these chocolate chip cookie bars, Shelly! Thanks for sharing that they worked well with the plant based butter. Thank you for taking time to leave a review!
Alice says
Made these for a fall festival party.
THEY WERE A BIG HIT!
Melissa says
I'm so glad these cookie bars were a big hit, Alice! Thanks so much for taking time to leave a review!
Brianna says
Made these a bucnha ND they are a HIT ! Just what you want it a great moist chocolate chip cookie bar!
Lisa says
If I double the recipe in a 14x20 sheet pan how long would you suggest baking it for?
Melissa says
I would start at 18 minutes but it will probably take closer to 24 if I had to guess!
Raye says
Made these for a 4th of July family gathering. They were amazing! My nephew in college was in awe of them!! It is key to take them out before you think they are really done and let them set. You will not be disappointed! Thanks for a great recipe that I'm saving and making again!
Melissa says
I am so happy to hear everyone enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for leaving a review, Raye!
Tricia says
Easy & delicious!
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Tricia!
Lori says
Today I made your Chocolate chip cookie bars! They are so good! Everyone was asking where I got the recipe and telling me how good the bars were! Excellent recipe! I will be making then again soon!
GEEKETTETX says
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THESE CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS...THEY WERE MELT IN YOUR MOUTH WORTHY AND A BIG HIT AT THE BIRTHDAY PARTY! .....THANK YOU
Melissa says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you so much for leaving a review, I really appreciate it!
Devin says
Everyone absolutely loved them! I couldn’t get people to stop eating them. Definite hit! Short, simple, and sweet
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Devin! Glad to hear everyone enjoyed the recipe!