Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars turn everyone's favorite cookie into buttery, soft, chewy bar cookies. They’re easy to make with no mixer and no chilling required. Plus, browning the butter amps ups the flavor in a big way. They're a real winner!
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[August, 2022: I've reworked the recipe and updated this post with all new pictures. Enjoy!]
Why this recipe works
- Using melted butter allows you to combine it with the sugars without needing a mixer
- Since bar cookies are baked in a pan, you save time by not having to chill or portion out the dough
- Browning the butter deepens the caramel flavors present in chocolate chip cookies
Do you ever have the need to bring cookies to a crowd? Feeding cookies to a lot of people usually requires a lot of portioning-out time in the kitchen. And if those cookies are everyone's favorite, chocolate chip, then you have to chill the cookie dough before you can even begin portioning.
Sometimes, I don't have the time or patience to spare. Luckily, there's a solution: make cookie bars instead! After all, if we can turn pie into bars, why not cookies, too? So chocolate chip cookies transform into chocolate chip cookie bars - they're easy bar cookies for a crowd!
You just mix up the dough, pat it into a baking pan, bake it, and…yummmmm…
These chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are buttery and gloriously chocolatey, with a rich caramelly flavor. Truly the best of what a chocolate chip cookie has to offer. And you don't have to portion out dough (even though cookies are portioned-controlled bits of food hugs).
It’s too bad there isn’t a “smell-o-blog” setting here because my kitchen smelled incredible while the bars were in the oven. Think sweet brown sugar and hazelnuts (or maybe, a good Speyside scotch!).
When I took some to my older daughter, she immediately agreed that the brown butter added more wonderfulness to an already wonderful recipe (I think her exact words were, “These are the best chocolate chip bars ever!”).
So if you’re feeding a crowd (or just feeling lazy), these cookie bars will be a big hit without too much effort. That's a big win in my book!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I will be trying this soon. What a great easy recipe.
- Sharon
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this chocolate chip cookie bar recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Since this is a modified chocolate chip cookie recipe, you need the standard ingredients: flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. This cookie bar recipe differs from classic chocolate chip cookies in how we treat the butter, and the addition of cornstarch.
Butter: This chocolate chip cookie bars recipe use melted butter, so there's no need to break out the mixer to cream butter and sugar together. And since we want that butter to stay melted, there's no chilling required either.
Also, since we're going to the trouble of melted the butter, this cookie bar recipe ups the flavor by browning the butter (cooking the butter past melting until it turns a dark brown color and smells nutty). Why? Brown butter toasts the milk solids in the butter, giving it a wonderfully rich nutty flavor that really amps up the flavor of the caramel notes present in the brown sugar.
Cornstarch: Used to soften the dough, making the bars fluffier and much easier to cut.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with brown butter
Step 1: Brown the butter
In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, melt the butter on medium-high heat (photo 1).
Continue cooking the butter until it turns amber and smells nutty, about 8 minutes (photo 2). You’ll notice that the boiling butter won’t be as noisy (the water will have evaporated), but it will be foamy. Keep checking with a spoon towards the end.
You have to be vigilant though - the butter can go from brown to burnt in a few seconds. It needs to be watched carefully and taken off the heat as soon as the color turns amber (black butter is not what we're after!).
Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a bowl to stop the cooking process (photo 3). Chill the butter for about 10 minutes - it doesn't need to solidify, just cool down a bit.
See the brown solids at the bottom of the bowl in the photo below? That's flavor! Make sure it gets into your cookie dough.
Step 2: Make the cookie dough
Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside (photo 4).
In a medium bowl, mix the melted brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain (photo 5).
Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract (photo 6).
Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and mix together until combined (and there are no dry spots). The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chips (photo 7).
The chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter but do your best to combine them. You can even use your hands to knead them in.
Step 3: Bake the cookie bars
Transfer the dough to a 9- x 13-inch baking pan that's been sprayed with baking spray and lined with parchment paper (leave an overhang on the long side of the pan). Press the dough into an even layer, then press a few more chocolate chips on top of the dough before baking (this is optional as it's just for looks).
Bake at 350˚F for 35 to 38 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides (photo 8). Use a cake tester in the center of the pan to check if it comes out clean.
Allow the slab to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for at least an hour. Once cooled, lift the slab out of the pan using the parchment paper overhang. Cut the slab into squares (2- x 2-inches) or bars (1- x 2-inches).
Storage and make-ahead instructions
Storage instructions: Cookie bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Make-ahead instructions: The cookie dough can be made ahead and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before pressing it into the baking pan.
Baked cookie bars freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw the bars overnight in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before serving.
Scale the recipe to fit your needs
This chocolate chip bars recipe scales well so you can make as many (or few) as needed. The easiest way is to use the scaling buttons on the recipe card (½x, 1x, 2x, 3x buttons) to adjust the ingredient amounts accordingly. That way you're not trying to do the math in your head, avoiding possible mistakes. And I've made mistakes in my calculations, believe me.
If you divide the recipe in half to fit into a 9- x 9-inch baking pan, use 1 egg and 1 egg yolk instead of the 3 eggs. The bars will take less time to bake, about 32 to 35 minutes at 350°F, and you'll get about 32 bars.
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
In the US, butter is made up of at least 80 percent butterfat. That leaves about 18 percent as water and 1 to 2 percent milk solids.
Browning butter is just cooking the butter past melting until it turns a dark brown color and smells nutty. What's happening is the milk solids are separating from the butterfat as the water evaporates. When all the water has gone, those milk solids are toasted, turning the butter an amber color. When you go to use the brown butter, make sure to get those toasted bits from the bottom of the pan. That's where the flavor is!
Sure! Pressing cookie dough into a pan is a popular way to bake it, and most of the time you don't have to adjust the ingredient amounts in the recipe for the cookie dough at all. The cooking time will take a bit longer, so use a cake tester in the middle of the pan to check for doneness.
I hope you like this recipe! Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget to leave a comment and rating. Thanks!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
- Tammy
More recipes with chocolate chips to try
Recipe
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, melted and browned, slightly cooled
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 12 ounces chocolate chips, (2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9- x 13-inch baking pan with baking spray, then line with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the long side. Set aside.
- In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Continue cooking the butter until it turns amber and smells nutty, about 8 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a bowl to stop the cooking process. Chill the butter for about 10 minutes - it doesn't need to solidify, just cool down a bit.
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and mix together until combined (and there are no dry spots). The dough will be very soft, yet thick.
- Fold in the chocolate chips. The chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter but do your best to combine them. You can even use your hands to knead them in.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan and press it into an even layer. Press a few more chocolate chips on top of the dough before baking (this is optional as it's just for looks).
- Bake for 35 to 38 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Use a cake tester in the center of the pan to check if it comes out clean.
- Allow the slab to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for at least an hour. Once cooled, lift the slab out of the pan using the parchment paper overhang. Cut the slab into squares (2- x 2-inches) or bars (1- x 2-inches).
- Storage instructions: Cookie bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- Make-ahead instructions: The cookie dough can be made ahead and chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before pressing it into the baking pan.
- Baked cookie bars freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw the bars overnight in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before serving.
Marilyn Streeting says
These are scrumptious but when I made them the first time they turned out a little dry and crumbly. I followed the recipe to the letter. What did I do wrong and how do I fix this. I'm loving all your recipes, I'm so glad I clicked on your website years ago. And my family are loving it too! 🙂 Thank you!!!
Tammy Spencer says
Hi Marilyn, Thanks for your kind words! I appreciate you as a longtime reader. Regarding the bars, I find that my cookie dough is shinier and a bit, well, greasier than normal cookie dough (browning the butter eliminates it's water content, leaving the butterfat behind). If your dough feel dry, that will produce a crumbly bar. I'm wondering if either the butter wasn't measured correctly, or the eggs were smaller than normal? Both those ingredients would affect the dough's overall moisture. If you make the bars again and find your dough isn't shiny and slightly oily (for lack of a better description), maybe adding a neutral vegetable oil, in 1 teaspoon increments, should help get the dough to the proper texture without dulling the overall flavor. Let me know if this helps. Good luck, and happy baking! 😉
Molly says
Wow! These are soooooooooo good. Thank you for the recipe.
Tammy Spencer says
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sharon Grossman says
I will be trying this soon. What a great easy recipe.
Tammy Spencer says
Enjoy! 😉