Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These super soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are easy (one bowl!) and so delicious! The perfect fix for that chocolate chip cookie craving.

This is one of those recipes where I think it would be best for me to probably zip my lips and let the pictures, simple recipe, and prior reputation do the talking.

But…since I have an inability to stay quiet when there are important things (ok, anything) to say, you won’t get off quite that easy.

Apparently I consider decadent, chewy, chocolate chip cookie bars to be firmly in the “important” category, because I can’t stop talking about these perfect little blondies.

And if you’ve made them, I think you’ll probably agree with me.

This recipe has lived on my site for a long time (since 2010!), and they continue to be a staple treat recipe for us. The only change I’ve made over the years is to streamline the recipe a bit to make them one-bowl and even easier.

I’m not going to sit here and say that there’s no place in the world for good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies. I’d be turning my back on some pretty fabulous recipes if I did so:

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

But there’s definitely a time and a reason to go for the quick and easy bar cookie.

And with chocolate chip cookie bars this delicious, you may find that you’re making them way more often than even your most favorite go-to cookie recipe (no scooping! no multiple baking sheets! no risk of eating all the cookie dough before the last batch of cookies bakes!).

In the interest of full disclosure, my kids whip up these easy chocolate chip cookie bars more often than I do. Even my 9-year old can get them in the oven quickly and relatively painlessly (it’s the cleaning up that inspires lots of juvenile angst).

And bonus: a recipe this classic and this easy is open to some flavor swaps with the chocolate chips. And M&M’s on top? A really, really good decision.

Brian waxes poetic when I live on the edge and throw in some butterscotch chips. But if anyone dares swap out my beloved dark chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips or (gasp!) white chocolate chips, I tend to lose all sense of right and wrong and say things I’ll regret later.

I’ll let you make your own decisions about which chocolate chip feels eternally right, and I even promise to try and be an adult about it just as long as your white chocolate doesn’t get too close to my cookie bars. ?

Also, if you’re looking for a delicious oatmeal cookie bar variation, here are two I love:

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars

One Year Ago: Instant Pot Indian Vegetable Rice
Two Years Ago: Doubletree Hotel Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Sweet Molasses Bread {Restaurant Knock-off}
Four Years Ago: Baked Shrimp and Orzo with Feta Cheese
Five Years Ago: Italian Lasagna Rolls

Yield: 9X13-inch pan

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Prep Time:12 mins

Cook Time:24-28 mins

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1/2 (3 1/2 ounces) cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons (10 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (semisweet, bittersweet, milk, white, peanut butter…the options are endless!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, salt and baking soda together until well combined. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir until evenly combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well.
3. Add the flour. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon start folding the flour into the wet ingredients. After a few stirs (with streaks of flour remaining), add the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks and mix until combined. Don’t overmix, just stir until no dry streaks remain (sometimes I use my hands as the dough gets thick).
4. Press the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
5. Bake until the bars are light golden brown on the edges, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.

Notes:

The original recipe posted way back in 2010 used two bowls (whisking the dry ingredients in a separate bowl), but taking notes from this awesome recipe, I’ve changed up the mixing for this recipe so it can be a strictly one bowl recipe. If you are a die-hard fan of the original, just mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and add it after the wet ingredients are mixed. Everything else in the recipe is the same as before.

All images and text ©Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Illustrated

Recipe originally published February 2010; updated with new pictures, commentary and recipe notes.

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