Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars satisfy a craving for cookies in a hurry! The dough takes less than 10 minutes of prep before it’s ready for the oven. These buttery bars are a family-favorite recipe. Every bite is bursting with ooey gooey chocolate!
You might recognize this buttery chocolate chip cookie dough from my brookies recipe! It goes to show just how wonderful it is, as those chewy, chocolatey brookies are one of my favorite desserts.
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
These chocolate chip cookie bars are one of my family’s favorite treats. They’re super easy to make with the same ingredients as my favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies. The difference here is that instead of spending time portioning the dough, everything gets pressed into a pan and baked. As a result, there’s very little hands-on time leading up to the oven. If the thick gooey center of a chocolate chip cookie is your favorite part, you’re going to LOVE these chocolate chip bars!
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
- Thick and chewy. Baking these cookie bars in a pan means that they’re about double– maybe triple– the thickness of even my thickest chocolate chip cookies. The entire bar is thick, chewy, bursting with buttery flavor and melty chocolate, just like the best part of a cookie.
- Quicker than a batch of cookies. Not only do these cookie bars taste amazing, but they’re also ready in under 30 minutes. The hardest part is waiting for them to cool enough to slice!
- Adaptable. With your cookie dough base ready to go, you can change up these bars with any add-ins you like. In addition to or instead of chocolate chips, try adding nuts, candies, or dried fruit. I include some of my favorites further on. Cookie bars are the perfect easy treat to make and customize for parties, potlucks, and holidays.
Ingredient Notes
I’ll get you started with some notes on the important ingredients you’ll need for these thick and chewy chocolate chip bars. Scroll to the recipe card after the post, where you’ll find the printable ingredients list with recipe details.
- Butter – Brought to room temperature. I prefer unsalted butter for baked goods. Salted works, too, but I’ll usually leave out any added salt in that case.
- Sugar – Same as when I make a chewy chocolate chip cookie, I use a combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Brown sugar adds extra moisture to the dough and a richer flavor to the cookies.
- Eggs – Whole eggs plus additional egg yolks are the key to these bars’ dense, chewy texture.
- Chocolate chips – Use your favorite quality brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips. Pretty much any type will work in this recipe.
- Sea Salt – An optional garnish for the freshly baked cookie bars. I love the sweet-salty contrast of flakey sea salt against the melty chocolate!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Here are the quick steps to make these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars. You’ll find printable instructions in the recipe card.
- Mix the wet ingredients. First, cream the butter and both sugars until they’re well combined, and beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients separately, and then slowly mix them into the dough. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Fill the pan. Press the cookie dough into a lined 9×13″ pan. Sprinkle over some extra chocolate chips (don’t skip this step for a photo-ready finish!).
- Bake. Bake your cookie bars at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. Give the bars a sprinkle with sea salt while they’re warm from the oven, then cool.
Can I Use A Smaller Pan?
If you don’t have a 9×13″ pan, I recommend halving the recipe and baking in an 8″ pan for thicker bars. These can also be baked in a 9″ pan, you’ll just need to reduce the baking time by a few minutes.
Recipe Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. The butter in particular should be at room temperature, though not melted. This makes it easier to beat with the sugars.
- Properly measure the flour. Mis-measuring the flour will have an impact on the density of these bars so be sure to measure it properly either with a scale or the spoon and level method, along with all other ingredients.
- Slightly underbake. The edges should be slightly brown and the center set but if you want that gooey texture, remove the pan from the oven a minute or two early.
- Cool before slicing. For the cleanest cuts, let the bars cool completely before slicing and wipe down the knife between each cut. I also find it easier to cut these after removing from the pan, but they really have to be cooled down to fully remove them without breaking them.
Mix-In Ideas
I love to customize these chocolate chip cookie bars. Sometimes, I’ll steal the add-ins from my Reese’s peanut butter cookies or Lucky Charms cookies, or add any of the following:
- Chopped nuts. I love the extra buttery crunch from chopped pecans. Walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds are also good options.
- Different baking chips. Try peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, mint chocolate, or chocolate chunks.
- Candies. M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces would taste delicious in these cookies. I also love a bar version of my Cadbury Egg chocolate chip cookies for Easter!
- Sprinkles. Stir in rainbow sprinkles, or any themed sprinkles for an easy festive twist.
- Oreos. Make Oreo chocolate chip cookie bars bursting with chunks of crushed Oreo cookies.
Serving Suggestions
While these cookie bars are great on their own, I love to microwave mine for 5-10 seconds before serving. This way it’s warm, gooey, and ready for topping with vanilla ice cream. It’s like a twist on a brownie sundae (just with a cookie instead of a brownie). I’ll even add some whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate ganache or salted caramel sauce.
How to Store
- Countertop. These chocolate chip cookie bars will last for a few days at room temperature. I’ll either keep the pan tightly covered or slice the bars and transfer them to an airtight container.
- Freeze. You can also freeze the bars for up to 3 months. Wrap individual cookie bars with plastic wrap, stash them in a freezer bag, and freeze. Thaw the cookie bars on the counter before enjoying.
More Cookie Bars Recipes
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars
- Lemon Raspberry Magic Cookie Bars
- Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
- Seven Layer Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 15 bars
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are a family-favorite recipe! All the delicious flavors of melty chocolate chip cookies, with less than 10 minutes of prep to get them in the oven.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (330g) light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cups (143g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) pure vanilla extract
- 3 ¾ cups (525g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (4g) baking soda
- 2 cups (1, 11oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Maldon Flakey Sea Salt for Garnish
Instructions
- Combine the softened butter with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Stir to combine and slowly add the dry ingredients into the dough, mixing on low speed until the dough starts to form. Before the dough thickens, add the chocolate chips (reserve a small handful to sprinkle on top of the dough). Beat until incorporated.
- Press the cookie dough into a 9-inch by 13-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with a few more chocolate chips. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes. Once out of the oven, sprinkle with flakey sea salt. Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Storing: Chocolate chip cookie bars will last for up to 5 days. Keep the pan tightly covered or slice them and transfer them to an airtight container.
- Make them your own: Add chopped nuts, peanut butter chips, M&M or Reese’s Pieces, Sprinkles
- Freezing: You can also freeze the bars for 3 months. Either wrap them as single bars, or slice and store in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Cool completely before freezing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 522
- Sugar: 42.2 g
- Sodium: 336 mg
- Fat: 26.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 67.8 g
- Fiber: 2.4 g
- Protein: 6.2 g
- Cholesterol: 98.2 mg
I made these & I had a question about what pan you used? Glass vs ceramic vs metal? I used my 9×13 le creuset pan lasagna pan & it ended up taking me just under 38min to get them cooked all the way through! Do you think it was the pan making the difference? They tasted ok, but a little soft in the middle.
On the plus side, the recipe was REALLY easy to follow & the dough was lovely to work with, not too sticky & smoothed really well in the pan. I may try next time subbing out browned butter for a richer, chewier flavor! Love your site ❤️
Hi Melissa! I used a standard nonstick metal baking pan. The type of pan with effect the baking time and also how “done” you prefer the cookie bars. I pull them out the center are still underbaked a bit.
Just found your site, thanx for sharing recipes🥰. I’m retired with my son from owning our scratch bakery. I’m 75 now & miss it but unable to make things in an 80 qt. Mixer today 🤣🤣. Going to make chocolate chip bars💕, Sue