My Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe makes a large pan full of rich, gooey chocolate chip cookies. It's enough to feed a party, without the hassle of scooping cookie dough!
These chocolate chip cookie bars are perfect for lovers of gooey cookies. Edges are chewy with a slight crunch, from a buttery, rich butterscotch blondie made only with brown sugar. The bars are packed with chocolate chips - almost, but not quite too many - ensuring that they're in every bite.
Baked perfectly, these bar cookies are slightly underdone, almost like cookie dough in bar form. Edge pieces are perfect for fans of traditionally-baked cookies, so you get the best of both worlds, but I have alternate instructions if you want soft but less gooey bars.
Imagine any soft chocolate chip cookie you've really, really enjoyed - and then being able to eat them - a lot of them - by spending just 10 minutes making cookie dough and spreading it into a pan and baking it. That's this recipe!
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Why Make Cookie Bars Instead of Cookies?
I get impatient when I make cookies, so I love making bar cookies. It simplifies the process, because:
- No scooping dough, trying to make it evenly sized.
- No spacing cookies far enough apart on a baking sheet.
- No waiting between sheets of cookies.
- Less active time spent in the kitchen.
- Just mix, pat in a pan, and bake!
Ingredients
These Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars take just 8 simple ingredients:
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs and vanilla
- Flour, baking powder, and salt
- Lots of chocolate chips
I always use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt that goes into a recipe. This takes less butter than a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, so you can use salted butter if you'd prefer without making it too salty; just omit the added salt.
We use brown sugar instead of a usual mix of granulated and brown sugars, for extra chewiness.
Eggs provide flavor and binding; there's no good substitute for them here.
I prefer semisweet chocolate chips over milk chocolate, but I don't have a preference on brand. Both store and name brands work fine, but you will need 18 ounces - one and a half standard bags.
Recommended Equipment
The beauty of this recipe is that it's made in a bowl - no electric mixer required.
I melt my butter in an 8 cup glass measuring cup (affiliate link), and mix the dough together in it. You can melt the butter in a large saucepan or pot and mix the dough in it, but do let the pot cool off for at least 10 minutes so that it doesn't cook the eggs when you add them.
I use a digital kitchen scale (affiliate link) to weigh of my ingredients, because that way I don't get too much flour in the cookie dough, which could make the bars tougher.
I recommend using a shiny metal 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link) to bake these. I have one with a lid so I can leave the bars in the pan for storage. Glass and dark pans will bake differently; follow the manufacturer's instructions for baking adjustments, and check for doneness 5 minutes early. If using glass, dark, or nonstick pans, I highly recommend lining the pan with parchment paper, and removing the bars for cutting.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars - Step-by-Step
I first made these in 2011, based on the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe from King Arthur Baking that I had printed out - on paper! I noted that their recipe originally used a stand mixer, although that's not true of their current version.
Lazy 2011-era Leona simply melted the butter to turn it into a no-mixer recipe, and didn't look back.
- Combine melted butter with the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla, and mix to combine.
This begins to melt the brown sugar, which will make the top shinier.
- Let the mixture cool a little if necessary so the eggs don't scramble. Add eggs and stir well to combine, but no need to beat. You just want the eggs to be mixed in.
- Mix in the flour and baking powder, being sure you scrape the bottom.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into a greased or parchment-lined 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link).
- Bake for 30 minutes. The top will look browned and glossy. If you poke them with a toothpick in a spot without chocolate, the toothpick should look wet, but shouldn't have thick batter on it.
Check your bars early if using a glass or dark metal pan.
Let the bars cool completely before cutting and removing from the pan. [That said, I often cut the very first row because I'm impatient to eat them while they're warm, just like I do brownies. Just don't cut more than that until you're ready to serve.]
Hint: These instructions give you dense, gooey chocolate chip cookie bars. If you want them a little more done, bake for an extra 2 minutes.
Soft, Less Gooey Bars
Here's how you make a full pan of chocolate chip cookie bars that are less dense and gooey, and more like your usual chocolate chip cookies.
- Soften the butter, instead of melting it.
- Use an electric mixer, and cream the butter with the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until it's fluffy and lightened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Use the mixer for the remaining steps as well.
- Bake the cookie bars for an extra 2-3 minutes.
- Stick a toothpick into the center, in a spot without chocolate. It should come out with moist, dense crumbs, like for my Hershey's Best Brownies recipe, but not batter. The toothpick will not be clean.
Serving and Storage
Although you should let the chocolate chip cookie bars cool completely before serving the bulk of them, you can cut a row out and eat a few while they're warm and falling apart. I admit that I often do this.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. They're fantastic for a few days. If they seem to dry out or stiffen up, just reheat a bar for no more than 5 seconds in the microwave. They would be excellent warmed like this as a base of an ice cream sundae 🍨
Top Tip
If you're making the cookie bars to share and plan to bake them very gooey, make them a day ahead of time. This allows them to set up so they won't fall apart, which they will do if you serve them warm.
Recipe FAQ and Troubleshooting
Baking soda is usually included in chocolate chip cookie recipes to react with the acid in the brown sugar. However, baking soda only rises once, when it interacts with the acid, while baking powder is double-acting, meaning it rises both when it interacts with an acid as well as when heated. Dough with baking soda won't rise again in the oven, while dough with baking powder will. You need the lift from the baking powder to make these bars less dense than the cookie dough was originally.
I haven't tried these chocolate chip cookie bars with gluten-free flour, but I think it would work. Gluten-free flour blends sometimes yield crumbly baked goods, but these bars already dense and have structure from being baked in a pan. Try a cup-for-cup, gluten-free flour blend that includes xanthan gum.
More Recipes with Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chips
If you love chocolate chip desserts and brown sugar, you should definitely try these other recipes!
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 9x13 inch pan
- rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 11 tablespoons unsalted butter (154 grams; melted)
- 2 ¼ cups brown sugar (454 grams; packed)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs (~150 grams)
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (330 grams)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 3 cups chocolate chips (510 grams/18 ounces)
Instructions
- Combine melted butter with brown sugar, salt, and vanilla, mixing with a rubber spatula until combined.
- Let the mixture cool slightly if necessary, so it won't scramble the eggs. Then add the eggs and stir well to combine. You want them mixed in, but you don't need to beat air into them.
- Stir in flour and baking powder, mixing until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Add chocolate chips.
- Spread batter in a greased 9x13-inch pan (affiliate link), all the way to the edges. The batter will be thick.
- Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. The top will become golden brown and shiny all over, and the edges will look done. A toothpick inserted into the middle in a spot without chocolate should come out a bit damp or wet, for gooey bars. If there's thick batter on the toothpick, bake a couple of minutes longer.
- Cool completely before cutting and removing from the pan. I often cut a row after 15 minutes, so that I can eat them immediately. They are still fragile and fall apart, so I recommend only cutting them when you want to eat them.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Chocolate chip cookie bars are moist and delicious for a few days. If you feel they've dried out a little, reheat a cookie bar in the microwave for 5 seconds.
Less Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Soften the butter, instead of melting it. Use an electric mixer, and cream the butter with the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until it's fluffy and lightened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition. Use the mixer for the remaining steps as well.
- Bake the cookie bars for an extra 2-3 minutes. Stick a toothpick into the center, in a spot without chocolate. It should come out with moist, dense crumbs, but not batter. The toothpick will not be clean.
Notes
[Originally posted in April 2011, and updated with recipe in June 2018. Restructured and revised September 23, 2025.]
Kay aka Babygirl says
I love a good chocolate chip cookie but I never made a chocolate chip bar before and I must say, I'm intrigued. Might have to try this. Wonderful post.
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide says
Those look great! I usually just do the cookies, but will have to do this next time.
Leona Konkel says
I think about these so often, because I love both chocolate chip cookies and the convenience of baking them like I do brownies. I hope you love this recipe too!