Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These easy chocolate chip cookie bars are thick, soft, gooey, and chewy – a true crowd favorite! They are made in one bowl, all mixed up by hand, with no machines required!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cookie

Keyword chocolate chip cookie bars

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings squares

Calories 197kcal

Author Melissa Rose

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)

US Customary - Metric

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 the chocolate chips in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin or metal mallet to break them down 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.

Video

Notes

Recipe tweaks: As of 3/28/22, I tweaked this recipe to be a tad bit sweeter and have less flour and baking powder (to help the recipe not turn out cakey for some people). If you made & loved the original, simply keep the original ratios of ¼ cup granulated sugar (changed to ½ cup), ½ teaspoon baking powder (changed to ¼ teaspoon), 2 ¼ cup flour (changed to 2 cups). But I must say...I think these tweaks make them even better than before!

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.

Nutrition