These easy double chocolate chip cookie bars are rich, thick, and soft – a true crowd favorite loaded with chocolate flavor! Made in one bowl, no mixer required!
PS. These are the chocolate version of my Tiktok viral chocolate chip cookie bars!
Why I Love These Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Rich brownie flavor + cookie texture: The flavor is like a rich, chocolatey brownie but the texture is more of a cookie. I should really just call them brownie cookie bars…they are for true chocolate lovers!
- One bowl, no mixer! Since this recipe uses melted butter, you don’t have to get out the electric mixer to cream the butter & sugars. Just mix with a spatula!
- Make in under 30 minutes! These are super quick to whip up because nobody has time for fancy recipes when a chocolate craving hits.
Make for a birthday! If you make this & love it, try my Triple Chocolate Cookie Cake next! It’s the same base dough but with a fun chocolate frosting border!
Ingredient Notes
This is just an overview, jump down to the full recipe card for the recipe amounts and condensed recipe instructions.
- Unsalted Butter: I highly recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the salt flavor in this recipe.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: I tested this recipe with Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder, since it’s my favorite affordable, grocery-store brand. This is not the same as cocoa mix you use in hot chocolate; be sure you’re using the type for baking!
- Chocolate chips: I use semi-sweet chocolate chips but this would also be good with white chocolate chips or milk chocolate! If you use dark chocolate, I’d cut the amount back to about 1 cup total to make sure it’s not too rich.
How to Make Chocolate Cookie Bars:
Jump down to the full recipe card for printable condensed recipe instructions.
Step 1: Make Dough
- In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, melt unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e. 1 ½ sticks) for 30-60 seconds until fully 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 light brown sugar (¾ cup) and granulated sugar (½ cup) and use a spatula to stir until combined. Stir in 1 whole egg, 1 extra egg yolk and vanilla extract (2 teaspoons). Mix until combined.
- Stir in baking soda (¾ teaspoon) and salt (¾ teaspoon).
- Add in unsweetened cocoa powder (3/4 cup) and all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups). Before all the flour disappears, add in 1 ¼ cups of chocolate chips. Mix until all the flour disappears into the dough. Immediately proceed to next step.
Step 2: Press into pan & bake
Press dough into a greased or parchment-lined metal 9×13″ pan until smooth (I like to use a piece of parchment paper to get a very smooth top). Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and gently press each one into the dough.
Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes, or until center no longer looks wet. Do not overbake or the bars will not be soft & may taste bitter. Remove from oven and place entire pan on a cooling rack. If desired, sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Step 3: Cut Into Squares
Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before removing from pan. Slice into 12-24 squares, then enjoy! To keep fresh, cover pan with saran wrap or place bars in airtight container for up to 2-3 days (best within 2 days or they start to dry out). See notes below for freezing tips.
Tip: For the cleanest cut (without smearing the chocolate!), wipe your knife between each cut or refrigerate bars for about 20 minutes before slicing. Use a large straight-edged knife for the cleanest cuts.
Tips & Variations
- Don’t overmix: I recommend mixing with a spatula (vs. electric mixer) so that your bars stay dense & fudgy. Overmixing will cause them to become more cakey and fluffy.
- Don’t overbake: Just like brownies, overbaking recipes with cocoa powder can cause the flavor to become bitter. My oven is perfect at 15 minutes while baking in a light-metal 9×13 pan.
- Use white chocolate chips or other mix-ins! These would be fun to experiment with different flavors of baking chips; white chocolate, peppermint, peanut butter, mini m&m’s, etc. Or use multiple kinds to make them triple chocolate cookie bars!
- Top with flaky sea salt: The people of Tiktok love yelling at me for not using flaky sea salt, so now is your chance to shine!
- Turn into a cookie cake: This recipe is a larger batch of my triple chocolate cookie cake, so if you want to make a rectangle cookie cake in a 9×13 pan, use that frosting recipe but double it to create a border!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Storing & Freezing
- Storing: Cover pan with plastic wrap or store bars in an airtight container for 2-3 days. They do tend to start drying out after 2 days, so eating them sooner than later is best!
- Freezing: Cool the bars completely before placing them into an airtight container or freezer bag for storage. These will keep in freezer for 1-2 months. Note that I find that the freezer tends to dry out cocoa powder cookies quicker than other types, so texture will change as time goes on.
Can I make these gluten-free?
I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour but if you try it, report back! My favorite brand of flour is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
How do you cut them so cleanly?
For the cleanest cut (without smearing the chocolate!), wipe your knife between each cut or refrigerate bars for about 20 minutes before slicing (this will help the chocolate harden). Use a large straight-edged knife for the cleanest cuts.
More Cookie Bar Recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Bakery Style Butterscotch Bars
- Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizza Bars
- Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
- Thick & Chewy Funfetti Blondies
Did you make this recipe? If so, 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.
Double Chocolate Cookie Bars
These easy double chocolate cookie bars are rich, thick, and soft – a true crowd favorite loaded with chocolate flavor! They are made in one bowl, no mixer required. The chocolate version of my Tiktok viral 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
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder I use Hershey's
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided, 1 ¼ cups in dough + ¼ cup sprinkled on top)
Optional Topping
- Flaky sea salt optional
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
-
Preheat oven to 350°F.
-
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, melt unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e. 1 ½ sticks) for 30-60 seconds until fully 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 light brown sugar (¾ cup) and granulated sugar (½ cup) and use a spatula to stir until combined. Stir in 1 whole egg, 1 extra egg yolk and vanilla extract (2 teaspoons). Mix until combined.
-
Stir in baking soda (¾ teaspoon) and salt (¾ teaspoon).
-
Add in unsweetened cocoa powder (¾ cup) and all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups). Before all the flour disappears, add in 1 ¼ cups of chocolate chips. Mix until all the flour disappears into the dough. Immediately proceed to next step.
-
Press dough into a greased or parchment-lined metal 9×13" pan until smooth. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and gently press each one into the dough.
-
Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes, or until center no longer looks wet. Do not overbake or the bars will not be soft & may taste bitter. Remove from oven and place entire pan on a cooling rack. If desired, sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
-
Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before removing from pan. Slice into 12-24 squares, then enjoy! To keep fresh, cover pan with saran wrap or place bars in airtight continer for up to 2-3 days (best within 2 days or 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.
Recipe Notes
Chocolate chips: While I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, you can also use milk, dark, or white chocolate!
To freeze: To freeze, cool the bars completely before placing them into an airtight container or freezer bag for storage. These will keep in freezer for 1-2 months. Note that I find that the freezer tends to dry out cocoa powder cookies quicker than other types, so texture will change as time goes on.
Rachel says
This was a recipe I gave out more than a few times at my work’s potluck! I did half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half white chocolate chips which provided a good balance.
My oven runs hot so I shortened cooking time for 2 minutes and it got them perfect!
Super easy and great because I don’t have a stand mixer. Thanks for the great recipe!
Melissa says
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, Rachel! So awesome to hear you enjoy the recipe!
Sherry Kawa says
I was looking for a chocolate chocolate cookie bar recipe and found this one and I’m glad I did! The only thing I changed was I used a 9×9 pan because I wanted them a little taller so I let them cook a few minutes longer. These are so delicious!!! Very much like a brownie, moist, such good flavor and texture. Yum!!!
Melissa says
Thank you so much for leaving a review, Sherry! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Bill says
Can you turn this recipe into individual cookies without having to make a bar or cake?
Melissa says
Hi Bill! I haven’t tried using this dough for cookies yet but I think it would work just fine! I recommend scooping them into 3-tablespoon-sized balls, rolling, slightly flattening, and then chilling in the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking at 350F for 9-11 minutes. Report back if you try them like this!
wonderful cook says
Your cookie bars look so tempting! I just can’t get enough chocolate and always love brownie flavor! I will definitely be giving these a try! Thanks for sharing.
Suzy says
Yum!!!!!!
Melissa says
Thanks for leaving a review Suzy, I so appreciate it!