Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
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Chewy chocolate chip cookie bars made from my beloved classic chocolate chip cookie recipe but with no chilling time and just one pan to bake. These bars are soft, chewy, and packed with melty chocolate in every bite.
Your Favorite CHOCOLATE CHIP Cookies: Pressed Into Bars
If you love my classic chewy chocolate chip cookies but wish you could skip the chill time and knock everything out in one go, these chocolate chip cookie bars are your dream scenario. They use the exact same base recipe– chewy, rich, perfectly balanced– but with zero chilling, zero scooping, and zero waiting for multiple batches. Just press the dough into a 9″ × 13″ pan, bake, slice, and enjoy.
They deliver everything people adore about my OG cookies in a format that’s faster, easier, and perfect for potlucks, bake sales, weeknight cravings, or any moment when “I want warm cookies now” is the only thought in your brain.
Even better? Cookie bars lean all the way into that soft, chewy center texture my original recipe is known for. If you’re the person who always grabs the most underbaked-looking cookie on the tray, congratulations– you just found your ideal dessert in one big rectangle.
And if you’re new here, yes: this is the same wildly loved cookie base that’s been baked by millions and has lived rent-free in my website analytics for years. The science stays the same. The method gets easier. And the results are still unbeatable.
Here’s the magic in these cookie bars:
NO CHILL TIME: the dough goes straight from the bowl to the pan making this a really quick process.
ONE PAN, ONE BAKE: no rotating trays, waiting on batches, and offloading cookies to a cooling rack to make baking sheets available.
ULTRA-CHEWY CENTERS: bars hold onto moisture even more than cookies, so if you thought my classic cookies were chewy, you’re in for a real treat.
CRISPY EDGES, IF YOU WANT THEM: just like brownies, the outside edges bake up beautifully crisp, but every interior slice is pure gooey heaven. Edge brownie and middle brownie lovers? That translates to cookie bars, too.
A QUICK REFRESHER: WHAT MAKES THIS COOKIE BASE SO GOOD
If you want the deep-dive, the original post has ALL the details. But here’s the short version of why this dough works so well in bar form:
Melted butter = this makes for chewiness and easy mixing.
Extra egg yolk = a rich and fudgy texture.
More brown sugar = moisture and notes of toffee flavor.
Cornstarch = brings a soft, chewy structure without making the cookies cakey.
In cookies, we chill the dough to keep them from flattening into puddles. In bars, the pan does the heavy lifting– literally. The dough can’t spread, so you get thicker, bakery-style cookie bars without waiting for the dough to firm up.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here is a visual of what you’ll need for these chocolate chip cookie bars. Again, if you want all the details on why I chose these ingredients, you can visit the classic chocolate chip cookie post to read about the choices. Be sure you’re scrolling down to the recipe card for exact measurements of each of these important ingredients.
For these cookie bars, you will need: unsalted butter, brown and granulated sugars, and egg and an egg yolk, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.
A note on the chocolate chips
I prefer a mix of standard size milk chocolate chips and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, which is true for these cookie bars as well. You can use another combination and/or size of chips, but this is one of the things folks love so much about my cookies, so I strongly encourage you to do that combo as well. You can find specifics about amounts of each chocolate chip in the bottom note section of the recipe card.
OVERVIEW: How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Combine the dry ingredients: start by whisking together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
Mix the wet ingredients: whisk melted butter and sugars, then add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract.
Bring it all together: fold in the dry mixture, then add the chocolate chips while there are still some visible pockets of flour.
Press into a pan: I like to use a platform pan, which makes it easy to remove bars. If you don’t have a platform pan, line the pan with parchment or foil for easy removal.
Bake: while the bars are baking, they will puff up and seem like they’re not done after the allotted time. In fact, the bars might even jiggle a little when you pull the tray out, but it will deflate as it cools. You’re looking for the top to look just set and a light golden color.
Cool completely: this is a must before slicing! Otherwise your cookie bars will fall apart.
SUCCESS Tips for Perfect Cookie Bars
DON’T OVERBAKE: the edges will look done before the center does– that’s your sign to take them out.
LINE THE PAN: again, if you’re not using a platform pan, parchment or foil will make slicing and lifting so much easier.
LET THEM COOL: as perfect as a wam cookie from the oven is, warm bars will crumble. Cooled bars slice beautifully! And you can warm bars in the microwave if you’re missing that just baked feeling.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BAR VARIATIONS
Because bars equal options! I recommend using my brown butter chocolate chip cookies or my fall spice chocolate chip cookies as a guide for making different varieties of these bars.
More variations to consider:
• add chopped nuts
• change up the type of chocolate chips you use
• add toffee bits or other add-ins like sprinkles
• add a finish of flaky salt
You could also add a frosting on top! Here are all of my American buttercream frosting recipes.
Now which are you: an interior lover or an edge/corner lover?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter melted1
- 1 cup (200g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature2
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips3
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (163ºC). Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick spray. I like to use a platform pan, but if you are just using a traditional baking pan, you may want to line it with parchment or foil for easy removal. Set the baking pan aside.
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. When sugar clumps disappear, whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200g) firmly packed light brown sugar, ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips and stir until evenly dispersed.1 and ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips3
- Press the cookie dough into the prepared pan, then bake for 22-24 minutes, until the edges are set. The mixture may jiggle a bit but will deflate and set as it cools. Allow to cool completely before slicing into desired sizes. Store cookie bars in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 7 days. Baked cookie bars may be frozen up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
- Melted butter: take care to melt the butter just until it’s melted and not foamy. My best tip is to melt it until there is still some stick visible, then stir it to help distribute the heat to melt the rest of the butter. If the butter becomes foamy, you may be losing too much moisture which could drastically affect the success of the cookie.
- Room temperature eggs: these are preferred for even distribution into batter. As a rule of thumb, when a recipe calls for room temperature or melted butter, it’s generally a good idea to use room temperature eggs as well. If you don’t have time to let eggs come to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before using.
- Chocolate chips: I prefer to use a combination of 1 cup milk or semi-sweet standard size chocolate chips and ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for these cookies.
- Turn these into brown butter chocolate chip cookie bars: see my brown butter chocolate chip cookies recipe for full details.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.