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These cookie bars are so easy to put together. Keeping it simple means you get classic chocolate chip cookie bars without the hassle—just pure, buttery goodness in every bite.
Dangerously Delicious & Oh-So-Easy
These cookies bars are so easy to put together. This recipe is designed to keep things simple!
One stick of butter. Not at room temperature, because I never remember to set one out beforehand, but melted. One egg, with no leftover egg whites to deal with. Equal amounts of light brown and white sugars.
Keeping the ingredients as streamlined as possible was the goal and we were able to achieve the BEST classic chocolate chip cookie bars in the process.
While I love a good cookie, like our Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies. I love cookie bars just as much! Our Monster Cookie Bars and our Oreo Bars have been some of my favorite desserts. So a basic Chocolate Chip cookie bar was needed for our recipe collection.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Image shows all ingredients needed to make simple chocolate chip cookie bars. This includes: all purpose flour, light brown sugar, white sugar, cornstarch, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and salt.
- Flour: This recipe was tested with all purpose flour. You can substitute with a 1:1 for a gluten free option if needed.
- Sugar: Use a white granulated sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Light Brown Sugar: This adds a bit of extra moisture and depth of flavor. Feel free to substitute with a dark brown sugar for even more flavoring.
- Butter: This recipe is written using unsalted butter, if you are using a salted butter you will need to adjust the amount of salt called for in the recipe.
- Cornstarch: This is added to help make these cookie bars soft and tender. If you don’t have any on hand you can simply leave it out.
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
Let’s Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- To begin, prepare an 8×8 inch pan by lining it with parchment paper and set aside. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl add the melted butter then the white and light brown sugar. Stir to combine this together.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Stir until dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the dough in the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the bars are golden on the top and lightly browning on the edges.
- Remove from the oven, allow the bars to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then using the parchment paper, pull from the pan and set on a wire rack to continue cooling.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prepare an 8×8 inch pan by lining it with parchment paper and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium size mixing bowl add the melted butter, white and light brown sugar. Stir to combine this together.
- Stir in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Stir until dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the dough in the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the bars are golden on the top and lightly browning on the edges.
- Remove from the oven, allow the bars to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then using the parchment paper, pull from the pan and set on a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Allow bars to cool before slicing.
Video
Notes
- Flour: This recipe was tested with all purpose flour. You can substitute with a 1:1 for a gluten free option if needed.
- Sugar: Use a white granulated sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Light Brown Sugar: This adds a bit of extra moisture and depth of flavor. Feel free to substitute with a dark brown sugar for even more flavoring.
- Butter: This recipe is written using unsalted butter, if you are using a salted butter you will need to adjust the amount of salt called for in the recipe.
- Cornstarch: This is added to help make these cookie bars soft and tender. If you don’t have any on hand you can simply leave it out.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I’m generally not a huge fan of cookie bars, but I thought these were great and my kids loved them (which is saying a lot). Making again today!
That’s fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
These didn’t turn out very well. I baked at 350 for 25 minutes. The top was brown and the edges were crisp. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the baking dish. When I tried to move them to the baking rack to cool, one side just fell apart so I could see the inside was super gooey. Put it back in the oven at 300 for 15 minutes so the edges wouldn’t get too overdone. [I probably should have covered the edges with foil and turned the oven temp to 350. Oops.] Anyway, when I took it out of the oven the second time, I tested it with a thermometer and the middle was just over 165 F. Left it to cool down again. We ate some. It tasted good. It’s still gooey, not soft. I stored these in the fridge because I think they will keep better and longer.
If I make these again, I will probably cover the edges with foil from the start and bake for 40 minutes at 350F. And avoid the cornstarch.
I did use a stick of butter to melt. Maybe that was too much? All the cookbooks/blogs say 1/2 c melted butter = 1 stick of butter.
Hi Susan, I’m sorry these didn’t come out as expected. I do think that they were cooked after the 25 minutes, they do need to cool before being cut, as they cool they set further. Baking these for 40 minutes will definitely over-bake them, so this is not advice I would recommend for any other bakers.