These soft and gooey chocolate chip cookie bars are crowd-pleasers! They’re easy to whip up and perfectly chewy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Everyone loves a good chocolate cookie. But here’s something we think is even better: these soft, gooey Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars! They’ve got an irresistibly chewy texture, featuring a luxurious dough with loads of dark chocolate chips. A bit of oatmeal gives it a nostalgic heartiness, and the edges get perfectly golden. All your friends will be begging for the recipe (ours were).

There’s nothing better than a good tray of bars: for parties, pitch-ins or just an after school snack! The advantage to bars over cookies? They’re much easier: no chilling the dough or portioning it out. Just throw the dough into a 9 x 9 pan and bake! It’s unfussy and a fun way to make an easy treat. These bars come out irresistibly soft and gooey, and they stay soft for days. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • All-purpose flour
  • Old fashioned rolled oats
  • Baking powder
  • Butter
  • Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla
  • Dark chocolate chips

Once you mix up the dough for these chocolate chip cookie bars, throw them in the oven and bake for 21 to 23 minutes until golden brown. That’s it! It’s so much easier than cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

There are a few best practices for chocolate chip cookie bars. Here’s what to know:

  • Grease the pan, then line the pan with parchment paper. This makes them easy to remove from the pan. Cut the parchment so that it extends on two sides to easily remove it from the pan (cut it to fit right in the bottom on the other side). Greasing the entire pan helps the parchment stick to the bottom.
  • Allow to cool for at least 1 hour. This lets the texture set, firming it up so it’s the ideal gooey texture for eating. You may find you’ll need even up to 2 hours for the chips to fully set. But if you’d like to serve it warm with a fork, you can do that too (see below).
  • Top with flaky seas salt if desired. Pull them out of the oven and top with a few sprinkles of flaky sea salt, if you love that sweet and savory vibe.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Or, eat them warm with ice cream

These chocolate chip cookie bars are the perfect crowd pleasing dessert for cookouts, parties, and more! You can eat them cooled as bars, but if you just can’t wait? You can eat them warm, topped with vanilla ice cream as a showy dessert. If you do so, let the pan rest for about 15 minutes before serving. Or even better, serve as a sundae with a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Storage info

How to store these chocolate chip cookie bars once you’ve bake them up? Make sure to store them with parchment paper between each layer, so they don’t stick to each other. Then, place them in an airtight container and you can store them for:

  • 3 days at room temperature
  • 2 weeks refrigerated
  • 3 months frozen
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

More chocolate chip recipes

Chocolate chip anything always goes over well, over here! Here are a few more chocolate chip recipes to try:

Vegetarian.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x

Description

These soft and gooey chocolate chip cookie bars are crowd-pleasers! They’re easy to whip up and perfectly chewy.


Ingredients

Scale
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup Old Fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, divided
  • Sea salt for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 x 9 pan. Line the pan with a piece of parchment paper, cut so that it extends on two sides to easily remove it from the pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  3. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, mix the room temperature butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until fluffy. Scrape the bowl with a spatula and incorporate eggs and vanilla into the butter at low speed. Once combined, add the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together. Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
  4. Use a spatula to press the sticky batter into the pan in a thin, even layer. Sprinkle and press the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips into the top of the dough. 
  5. Bake 21 to 23 minutes until starting to brown at the edges. Remove the pan to a cooling rack . If desired, sprinkle a few pinches of flaky sea salt over the bars.
  6. Cool completely, at least 1 hour. Run a knife around the edges, then cut into 16 pieces. (You can also serve warm with ice cream.) To store, place layers of parchment paper in between the bars and store in a sealed container at room temperature for 3 days, refrigerated for 2 weeks, or frozen for up to 3 months. 
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Baked
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Keywords: Chocolate chip cookie bars

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

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2 Comments

  1. Just made these cookie bars, and they are delicious! And easy. I might double the recipe next time, and make a batch in a 9×13” pan. Only thing I did differently is added milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips. And I used 1.5 cups of the chips. I’m so glad I found your site, your recipes are scrumptious.