These extra soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are incredibly easy to make. No mixer, dough chilling, or rolling into balls required! Sprinkle with flaky sea salt for a little something extra.
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, helpful success tips, and additional flavors.
Taste testers have always given these chocolate chip cookie bars a stamp of approval—and I’m so glad because this dough makes my favorite chewy chocolate chip cookies, too. We’re talking the softest, chewiest, thickest chocolate chip cookies to ever come out of my oven.
And if you can believe it, baking chocolate chip dough as cookie bars transforms them into something even better. Plus, we don’t have to chill the cookie dough and we don’t need to roll the dough into individual cookies. So, they’re homemade soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, only easier to prepare. A lazy (I call it “tired”) gal’s cookie if you will. 😉
One reader, Kerri, commented: “I discovered this recipe when I wanted chocolate chip cookies but didn’t feel like waiting for my butter to come to room temperature and then also waiting for the dough to chill. It is now one of my go-to cookie recipes for those same reasons and because these bars are so delicious!! The texture is great and I love that they stay soft and fresh for a couple days. My son loves the addition of coarse sea salt sprinkled on top, too. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Dense and buttery
- Extra chewy and extra soft
- Just like chocolate chip cookies, but they don’t spread
- 100x easier than making cookies—no individual cookie dough rolling
- No electric mixer needed
- A quick no-chill cookie recipe
- Topped with sea salt for a little something extra
- Still soft and chewy on days 2 and 3 (if they last that long!)
Key Ingredients & Why You Need Each:
If you’ve tried my beloved chewy chocolate chip cookies, you’re already familiar with the ease of this recipe. We’re using practically the same cookie recipe, but baking them as bars. Here’s what you need:
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of this recipe.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps these bars rise as they bake. Remember the crucial difference between baking powder and baking soda?
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch gives the cookie bars that ultra soft consistency we all know and love. Plus, it helps keep them wonderfully thick.
- Salt: Salt adds flavor.
- Butter: Use melted butter in this recipe for the chewiest cookie bars. Because we use melted butter, there’s no need to get out your mixer.
- Sugar: I like to use a mix of brown sugar and white granulated sugar this recipe. More brown sugar than white granulated sugar promises an extra soft and chewy cookie bar because there’s more moisture in brown sugar. I slightly reduced the sugar in the bars; it made no difference between the version tested with 1/2 cup sugar (100g).
- Egg & Egg Yolk: 1 egg binds everything together and 1 extra egg yolk adds richness and chewiness. You’ll lose a lot of moisture by skipping that extra egg yolk.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor. If you have any homemade vanilla extract, use that!
- Chocolate Chips: 1 cup of chocolate chips ensures tons of melty chocolate in each bite. Instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, try using dark, milk, or even white chocolate chips. Or swap half of the chocolate chips for M&Ms like we do in these soft M&M cookie bars.
Flaky sea salt (I use and love this brand) is a lovely touch that offsets the sweetness, but it’s totally optional.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
The dough is incredibly simple. Whisk the dry ingredients together, then the wet, and then combine. It’s a thick, slick cookie dough:
After you prepare the cookie dough, press it into a baking pan. There’s no risk of cookie spreading with this recipe because the edges of the pan completely contain the cookies from overspreading. I love that.
- By the way, if you’re ever having spreading issues with your regular cookies, here are my top 10 tips for how to prevent cookies from spreading.
One batch of these chocolate chip cookie bars fits perfectly into a 9-inch square pan. (A versatile pan that you can use for homemade brownies, too!) I love using this size of pan because it yields a nice, manageable batch—about 16 thick bars. If you want a larger batch in a 9×13-inch pan, use my M&M Cookie Bars recipe and swap the M&Ms for chocolate chips. The recipe below is perfect for a single batch, but requires a few adjustments instead of simply doubling. That’s why I recommend my super similar, scaled up M&M cookie bar recipe instead.
Success Tip: I like to line my pans with parchment paper. This way, you can lift the entire cookie bar mass out and then easily cut into squares. Also makes for quick cleanup! I do the same when making rice krispie treats, too.
Do NOT over-bake these bars. Err on the side of under-baking because otherwise the cookie bars will taste dry and cakey.
Can I Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?
Yes! If you want to amp up the depth of flavor by using browned butter, you absolutely can! My team and I have tested it, and you need to start with an extra 2 Tablespoons of butter to make up for the moisture loss that occurs during browning. Otherwise, the bars will taste dry.
How to Freeze Cookie Bars
Homemade chocolate chip cookie bars freeze beautifully so they’re a great make-ahead dessert option. Follow these instructions and no one will know they aren’t freshly baked the day you serve them:
- Bake and cool the cookie bars completely.
- Slice the bars into squares. If you lined your baking pan with parchment paper, simply lift the slab of bars out of the pan, place onto a cutting board, and cut into squares.
- Layer the bars between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. The parchment paper ensures that the bars don’t stick to each other and that the tops of the cookie bars stay intact.
- Label the container with a “best by” date 3 months out. Cookie bars taste best if they’re frozen for just 3 months or less.
- Thaw bars overnight in the refrigerator and then bring to room temperature before serving.
More Cookie Bar Flavors
- Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
- S’mores Cookie Bars
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Magic Cookie Bars
- M&M Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie and Brownie Bars
And don’t miss my recipe for chocolate chip cookie bark!
Print
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
No mixer required and there’s no waiting for cookie dough to chill with these soft & chewy chocolate chip cookie bars! Do not over-bake these bars. Err on the side of under-baking because otherwise the cookie bars will taste dry and cakey.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- optional: sprinkle of flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough paper around the sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Add the egg, extra egg yolk, and vanilla extract. The mixture will be thick. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until combined. The dough will be soft and slick, 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.
- Transfer dough to the prepared baking pan and press into an even layer. Lightly sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt, if desired. Also, I like to press a few more chocolate chips on top of the dough before baking; this is just for looks.
- Bake for 30-34 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Err on the side of under-baking and do NOT over-bake, or the cookie bars will taste a little dry and cakey. Use a toothpick to test for doneness; if it comes out mostly clean from the center of the pan, the bars are done.
- Allow the bars to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for at least an hour. Once relatively cool, lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment and cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover bars at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to come to room temperature and continue with step 4. Baked cookie bars freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw bars overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Flaky Sea Salt
- Larger Batch in a 9×13-inch Pan: If you want a larger batch in a 9×13-inch pan, use my M&M Cookie Bars recipe and swap the M&Ms for chocolate chips. Today’s recipe is perfect for a single batch, but requires a few adjustments instead of simply doubling. That’s why I recommend my super similar, scaled up M&M cookie bar recipe instead.
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars: If you want to use browned butter for this recipe, start with an extra 2 Tablespoons of butter before browning it, to make up for moisture evaporation.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi!! Love your web site also watched on you tube!!! Question your homemade cinnamon rolls, do you use regular yeast( not much success with yeast ) or self rising?
Hi Joanne, we use active dry or instant yeast in our cinnamon rolls recipe.
hey can i use greased tin foil instead of the parchment??
That would be fine!
Can gluten free flour be used instead of AP flour?
Hi Angie, other bakers have reported success using gluten free flour in our cookie recipes, but we have not tested it and you should expect a slightly different result using gluten free flour.
I made these tonight and they baked up lovely – soft and very nicely golden. I found 22 minutes at 350* to be good. Watch your bars closely. My oven bakes at 25* lower and still baked fast at 22 minutes.
Hi Sally, just curious, why do you add corn starch to your chocolate chip cookies/bars. I hadn’t seen that before.
See the post above! Cornstarch gives the cookie bars that ultra soft consistency we all know and love. Plus, it helps keep them wonderfully thick.
definately easier and better than a batch of cookies. Batches of cookies would dry out in a few days because we couldn’t finish them off fast enough, but these cookie bars stay soft and chewy for days (when sealed up good enough)
Question, the last couple of times I’ve made bar cookies/brownies calling for melted butter, they seem so greasy and then when baking, a layer of butter surfaces. When I take them out the butter ends up soaking in but the texture is not good at all. Ingredients have been measured on a scale and oven temp seems correct. Is my butter still too warm when incorporating with the dry ingredients? Help!
Hi Susan, are you using a blondie recipe by chance? Those are often quite buttery and can sometimes lend to a greasier texture (if you’re using one of our recipes, let us know which one and we’d be happy to provide some more specific troubleshooting!). Allowing the butter to cool slightly after melting does help—even just five minutes can make a difference. Hope this helps and that you enjoy these cookie bars!
I was using another choco chip cookie bar recipe but nearly identical ingredients and measurements as this one. I’ve made plenty of melted butter recipes that seem greasy when you incorporate everything but have turned out fine. I was so stumped why melted butter would be on top. Appreciate the help.
I love nuts. How much do you recommend I add and does that addition change any other aspects of the recipe?
Hi Susan, you can replace some of the chocolate chips with nuts, keeping the total amount of add-ins to 1 cup. Enjoy!
The best comment I can come up with is “Sally rocks”
Thanks Barbara!!
Hi sally! I often make your chocolate chip cookie cake in a 9×9 and it is delicious. I notice this recipe differs by the addition of white sugar and melted butter instead of softened. How do those things change the texture/taste? Thank you!
Hi Lauren! This recipe is essentially our chewy chocolate chip cookies in a pan. We like to use a mix of brown sugar and white granulated sugar this recipe (and in the cookies, since white sugar helps promote spread). More brown sugar than white granulated sugar still promises an extra soft and chewy cookie bar because there’s more moisture in brown sugar. We use melted butter in this recipe for the chewiest cookie bars. Because we use melted butter, there’s also no need to get out your mixer. Hope this helps!
I don’t like chocolate chips, but love the cookie base, so I tweaked this recipe a tiny bit: I browned the butter and baked the cookie, then when it came out of the oven I topped it with about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and spread them into a thin top layer. Delicious.
Giiiiirl … I have made these, this recipe is a go to. Wanna share tried it with dried cranberries, white and dark chips… was sublime. Lotsa love and thanks for sharing (all) your recipies and hints. Peace.
Delicious, quick and easy. I used half a ripe avocado (mashed) instead of the extra egg yolk. The bars are super soft and chewy, yum!
It is my first time using this recipe and was just wondering if using dark brown sugar instead of light will have much a difference?
Thanks x
That should be fine!
Can I brown the butter first?
Hi Michelle! You can use the same amount of brown butter in these cookie bars. Enjoy!
I am trying to make these for our large youth group of about 32 teenagers plus our adult helpers. Can these be done on a 12x 17 sheet pan? Is doubling the recipe enough?
Hi Christina, for a larger batch, we recommend using our M&M Cookie Bars recipe instead. This cake pan sizes and conversions guide will also be helpful. Enjoy!
I made this in an 8×8 pan with 6 extra cookies. Baked it around 25-30 minutes, I used convection oven so the temp is 325F.
Hi did you use convection oven with fan or without? Including up and down heat? I just want to leave as I got new convection oven with fan. Thank you
Made these yesterday and it was a hit. I added a bit of sea salt on top and only baked for 30 minutes to make sure it won’t dry out. Came out with a light crisp on top and very soft and chewy middle. The texture even stayed the same the next day. I love that it’s a fast alternative to Sally’s soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
Didn’t work with Earth Balance. Had to toss the whole thing.
The Nutella version of these (add about 1/4 cup crushed/finely chopped hazelnuts and 1/2-2/3 cup Nutella to batter, then sprinkle top with coarsely chopped hazelnuts and bake) were SO wildly popular I barely had any to myself. TONIGHT we’re going to add 1/2 c mini choc chips, 1/2 cup regular sized semi-sweet chips, 2/3 cup coconut (sweetened) and 2/3 cup sliced almonds. I will report back!!
Love the recipe but this site’s layer upon layer upon layer of ads is almost too much. It makes me want to find another recipe site.
Hey Diane, I’m curious what browser you’re using to view Sally’s website. I use DuckDuckGo and don’t have problems with seeing a lot of ads. You also might want to check your cookie settings. You might be able to turn them off & change your experience.
Sally, I just recently found this website & really enjoy trying new recipes. I bake gluten free and have had great luck with everything I’ve made.
Hi Diane; u are soooo! right some cover the recipe writing; I have to delete so many they are aggravating & I don’t use cookies, ever.
Tula, I also use Duck Duck Go browser and I have zero ads on Sally’s website. The only thing close is the affiliate links that I can choose to click on or not. I recommend DuckDuckGo also because it blocks tracking by the websites you go to. Hope this helps.
Hi There. I have been making this recipe for a while now and have loved it. But, lately my cookie bars haven’t been cooking properly in the middle, All the outside edges are cooked correctly. I don’t know what I am doing wrong! Please help! I have ensured butter is not too hot, eggs are room temp and have tried changing my oven to normal bake (not fanbake) but nothing seems to help. What else could it be?
Hi Pip, it’s normal for the bars to sink a little in the middle. If the toothpick came out clean, they should be done and will continue to solidify as they cool. For next time, if you find they still need a bit of extra time in the oven but are starting to brown on top, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking. We’re glad these are a favorite for you!
Hi Sarah, every oven can be a bit different, so if you wish to make these again in the future, be sure to keep a close eye on them and feel free to decrease the bake time a bit. Thank you for giving these a try!
Great recipe!! I doubled it and used a 9×13 pan. I made these for my great granddaughters so I cut them kind of small and they were perfect. I did add walnuts.
Hi! We LOVE these bars! Thanks very much for the recipe. Our daughter is visiting and asked whether I can incorporate some oatmeal into them. Your thoughts please? Thank you!
Hi Jackie, we recommend using the dough from our chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies instead for cookie bars. A 9×13 inch pan would be best. We’re unsure of the exact bake time.
I couldn’t find my 9×9 inch pan (it was in the freezer with the lemon cheesecake in it!) so I baked it in a 9 inch round. It looked like a big cookie, but no complaints from the crowd. I would like to say that trying to stir it together by hand was quite challenging and I ended up dumping it into the mixer. Too many bowls to wash, but it was tasty.
Hi, I want to try this recipe for the first time but I only have an 8×8 pan would the baking time change significantly?
Hi Brittany, this is a bit too much dough for an 8-inch pan. You could fill your pan about half way, then use the leftover dough for a few cookies on the side. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Pam, it’s normal for the bars to sink a little in the middle. If the toothpick came out clean, they should be done and will continue to solidify as they cool. For next time, if you find they still need a bit of extra time in the oven but are starting to brown on top, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking. Thanks for giving these a try!
Yes I measure the flour using a scale. Mine look just like your pictures. ♀️
I baked the first batch for 33 minutes and then the second batch for 25 minutes. I have a thermometer in my oven so I know the temperature was correct. Any other ideas? Thank you!
Hi Joan, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured. Too much flour can soak up all the wet ingredients and make the cookies/bars overly dry.
I love these chocolate chip bars! I sprinkled them with Maldon salt. So good. I have a tip to share that works for me! Parchment paper becomes much easier to work with if you first wet it under running water and then wring it out well and give it a vigorous shake to open it back up. The damp paper molds to the baking pan. Since lining the pan is one of the first steps, the parchment should be dry by the time you add your batter to the pan.