Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
I may receive compensation in the form of payment or products to supplement my posts, but all opinions remain my own. Read our disclosure policy.
Chocolate chip cookie bars are soft, chewy, and easier than making traditional cookies. There’s no need to chill the dough or get sticky fingers from rolling cookie dough balls. This easy recipe is made without a mixer and makes an extra big batch!
**This post was updated November 12, 2024 with new photos & recipe tips**
If you like cookies that are chewy, soft, extra thick, and packed with a ton of chocolate chips – then these chocolate chip cookie bars are for you. They’re also for you if you want homemade cookies but hate waiting for the dough to chill. This recipe is easier than making traditional cookies because there’s no mixer needed and no rolling the dough into balls, so its perfect if you’re feeling a bit lazy but still want soft, chewy totally perfect chocolate chip cookies.
Cookie Bars vs Blondies
You might be wondering what makes cookie bars different than blondies. After all, they’re both bar recipes, filled with chocolate chips, and made in a 9 x 13 (or 8×8 ) inch pan.
- Cookie bars are soft and chewy, whereas blondies are denser in texture and verging on gooey in the middle.
Making Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
You’ll notice that I didn’t just take my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and bake it in a 9×13 inch pan. That’s because we need to change up a few things since we don’t need to worry about the cookies spreading and the thickness of the cookies is different than regular CCCs.
- Start by preheating the oven to 350F (180C) and lining your 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) pan with parchment paper so that there’s an overhang around the edges. You could simply grease the pan, but I prefer lining the pan for an easier clean up and to ensure that the bars don’t stick.
- Then in a large bowl you’ll whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Using melted butter makes these cookie bars extra chewy.
- Then you’ll whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. You want to keep whisking until you no longer see pieces of egg in the batter.
- You’ll then add in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Gently whisk together until you no longer see streaks or lumps of flour.
- The cornstarch helps these cookie bars be extra soft.
- Unlike blondies (which don’t have baking powder or baking soda in the batter) – this cookie bar recipe uses baking powder. That’s because I wanted these cookie bars to be a less dense and less gooey than blondies
- Then stir in the chocolate chips. Because these bars are thicker than normal cookies, it means we can pack them with even more chocolate chips.
- Then spread the dough into an even layer in your prepared pan.
- They’ll bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 33-37 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or simply with some melted chocolate on it.
- Bake time is going to vary depending on your oven and how gooey you’d like your bars. A shorter bake time will create gooier bars. In my oven, I baked my cookie bars for 34 minutes. They turned out soft, tender and chewy – but they weren’t gooey – which was exactly what I was looking for.
Recipe Tip
Because this recipe was designed for baking in a 9×13 inch pan, I do not recommend it for forming into balls and baking as cookies. Instead, I recommend this chocolate chip cookie recipe or this recipe for extra thick chocolate chip cookies.
For more cookie bars – try these Monster Cookie Bars, Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars or Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 9×13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan*
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226 gram), melted & cooled
- 1 cup brown sugar (210 grams)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar sugar (100 grams)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375 grams), measured carefully
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, AKA cornflour in the UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips (about 360 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees. Line a 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) pan with parchment paper so that there's an overhang around the sides. Alternatively, lightly grease the pan.
- In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter and sugars (or use an electric mixer).
- Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract into the bowl until you no longer see pieces of egg.
- Add in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Gently mix together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the butter mixture and you no longer see lumps or streaks of flour. I typically a few stirs with a rubber spatula and then whisk with a wire whisk.
- Fold in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- Spoon the batter into the lined pan and spread the top smooth.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 32-37 minutes, or until the top looks set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (or with melted chocolate chip). Baking for longer will lead to less gooey bars.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. I recommend waiting until the bars are completely cooled for clean cuts. If you lined the pan, lift the bars out of the pan using the overhang of parchment paper, holding onto the long sides of the paper. Place on a cutting board and slice with a sharp knife.
Notes
- Baking Pans: Baking in a ceramic or glass pan generally means the bars will bake for 3-5 minutes longer.
- For a Smaller Batch: This recipe can be easily halved and baked in an 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) pan. The bake time will be about 25-30 minutes. Simply divide all the ingredients in half. Instead of using 3 eggs, use 1 egg plus 1 additional egg yolk.
- Eggs: When I originally posted this recipe, I used 2 eggs plus 2 additional egg yolks. To be less wasteful, I have now updated the recipe to use 3 whole eggs so that no egg yolks need to be discarded. I find the results equally delicious.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Bars freeze well and can be thawed in the fridge.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 bar, assuming the pan is sliced into 15 uniform bars. They will be very large. You can easily get 18 or 21 pieces from this recipe.
Can I use an extra tablespoon of flour instead of cornstarch?
That would be fine 🙂
Can you just grease the pan and not use parchment paper because I’ll be leaving it in the pan to decorate for my grandkids party
Yes – that would be fine.
Super yummy!! Absolutely love this recipe.
Is there a way to substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour?
I haven’t tried this recipe with whole wheat flour – so I can’t be certain of how they would turn out. I’m sorry!
In the recipe you had mentioned 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks and discard the egg yolks, did you mean discard the egg whites?
Yes! Thank you so much for the catch – I’ve just updated the post now
Thank you! This recipe was simple and fun to make with my sons, ages 12 yrs. and 5 yrs. Helps with the quarantine homeschooling!! 😍