These Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are the best ever! This easy recipe for bar cookies uses 1 bowl and takes just 25 minutes to bake!
The first time I made these awesome chewy chocolate chip cookie bars, they were gone in a day. This is one time I can’t blame it on the kids. This easy dessert is that good!
I tweaked a basic cookie bar recipe until I thought it would suit our tastes. And years later, it’s still a family favorite!You can make the dough in one bowl, bake it in a 13 x 9-inch pan, and enjoy homemade cookies from scratch in about 30 minutes.
The wonderful thing about making bar cookies is they are so much faster to make than regular cookies. As much as we love making chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, bar cookies cookie bars are way easier.
How to Make the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Start out by melting one half cup of butter. I prefer salted, no matter what the experts say. The other neat thing about this recipe is you can make the entire batch in one large microwavable bowl–my kind of cooking!
Just melt the butter in the microwave, and then add a combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar, and stir until it looks like this.
Then, add two eggs, one at a time, and beat well after you add each egg. Add some vanilla extract, and then add 2 cups of white flour, salt and two teaspoons of baking powder. The dough is stiff, but this is normal.
At this point I added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon–I just love this stuff! I used slightly more than one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and stirred them into the dough.
It looks like a lot of chocolate chips, but trust me, it’s not. Can you ever really have too many chocolate chips?
Press the mixture into a 9×13 metal baking pan lined with parchment paper, and pop it into the oven. If you don’t have a metal pan, grease a 13 x 9 inch glass baking pan.
How Long to Bake
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes in a 9×13 metal pan. The bars will be soft, so use a toothpick to test if they are done.
The center is supposed to be nice and gooey. For extra sparkle, you can add a sprinkle of sugar crystals.
I’ve baked with both metal and glass pans, and I think the metal pans work much better. But, you can bake the cookies at 325 degrees in a glass pan. The sides tend to cook faster than the center, so the lower temperature works better.
How to Store Them
The cookie bars are warm, soft, gooey and very chocolatey. You may think it can’t get any better, but the next day, they are even more amazing–trust me. Unlike regular chocolate chip cookies, the bar cookies stay very soft and chewy in the inside.
To keep them soft, store the cookies in a covered container. You can put a slice of sandwich bread in there, and it will help absorb moisture to keep the bars soft longer. Trust me!
For longer storage, wrap the bars in freezer safe paper in a zip top storage bag. They freeze and thaw very well.
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Add the butter to a large mixing bowl, and melt in microwave.
- Add the brown sugar and white sugar, and mix until well combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Mix in the cinnamon and vanilla.,
- Gradually add flour, one cup at a time, and mix well. Add sea salt and baking powder, and mix until well combined
- Stir in chocolate chips, and press mixture evenly into a parchment paper-lined 9 X 13 metal baking pan. Top with additional chocolate chips, if desired
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookie bars are light golden brown, center is set and toothpick inserted into center is fairly clean. Bars will be slightly soft, so don't overbake
- remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes, then lift parchment paper up, and cool completely on counter or metal rack
- Slice into squares, and store in an airtight container
Notes
Nutrition
Can you turn any cookie recipe into a bar cookie?
You can generally convert most drop cookie recipes into cookie bar recipes. You just have to increase the baking time to about 25 minutes to 30 minutes.
And for the holidays, top the bars with seasonal candies. These are perfect for easy holiday desserts or cookie exchanges.
If you like this recipe as much as we do, leave a comment or give me a shout-out on social media! Sign up to receive weekly recipes by email!
Recipe first published in 2013 and updated last in 2020
Boy are these great. The kids have made them twice now. Easy to make too!
Thanks, Jim. I’m so glad they liked the cookie bars!
These are sooooo good! I love adding holiday M&Ms to these to make them festive!
We do that for Christmas, too. Thanks, Kora!
I make these repeatedly and they always get rave reviews. Thank you!
We just moved and I haven’t unpacked my sheet pans. My husband has been asking when I’m going to make him some chocolate chip cookies. Out of desperation I went looking for a cookie bar recipe and came across yours.. He took one look and turned his nose up. ‘Why did you make bar cookies? They always turn out like bricks ‘ Well, I h watched him reluctantly eat one, then another, that was last night. Tonight the lot is 3/4 gone. He told me to keep the recipe. ‘They’re soft and gooey on the inside, just how I like cookies!” He is THE HARDEST PERSON TO PLEASE
Thank you, it’s a wonderful recipe, didn’t change a thing.
That is just awesome, Sharon! Thank you so much for writing in — enjoy your new home! 🙂
What size metal pan do you bake these in?
I use a 9 X 13 pan. I just updated the directions. 🙂
Thank you. EXCELLENT recipe.
So glad you liked the cookie bars! 🙂
Hi Dee,
I just pulled the bars out because I kept them in for 32 min. As I carefully lifted the parchment out of the pan, they pulled apart with cracks here and there. It looks like raw dough on the inside. Will it firm up after sitting awhile? I didn’t want to over bake them.
June
Hi June. The bars are soft in the middle when they first come out of the oven, but they firm up as they cool — just like cookies. 🙂
They turned out fabulous and delicious! Thank you!
That’s wonderful, June! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
These are amazing! I’ve made them twice now and they are easy and perfect. The second time I omitted the cinnamon and added walnuts. So good, crispy outside chewy inside, they really are even better the next day. If they make it that long 😁
So glad you like them, Shellene! They never last long here, either! 🙂
These look absolutely perfect! The best choco chip cookie bars, indeed!! Thanks for sharing! x
Thanks so much, Jhuls. We love these cookie bars! 🙂
These would disappear in our house!
Those look so good, I want to sink my teeth into one right now!
Thanks, Kimberly. I’ve been doing that too much lately!
Yum! Can i have those for breakfast tomorrow?
Oh definitely. Don’t tell my kids, but I may have done this! 🙂
Looks insanely delicious! I’m seriously drooling over this goodness, so excited to try this!
Thanks, Melanie. They really are so good! 🙂
These are perfect to serve up this holiday season!
They really are perfect for the holidays! 🙂
These look so good I want to take a bite. LOL, I am making these for sure. Yummy!
You can never have too many chocolate chip recipes. This looks like a keeper.