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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (aka Pan Chewies) are our family’s go-to Sunday Night Dessert! It’s your favorite cookie in bar-form, served hot. They’re perfect with ice cream!
If you love Chocolate Chip Cookies, then you’ll love these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars. They’re right up there with our Sugar Cookie Bars and Cake Mix Cookie Bars.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Over the years, we’ve come to find some go-to desserts for family gatherings. It may be a long list now, but today’s recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars aka “Pan Chewies” is one of those deserts.
We’ve decided you really can’t beat Chocolate Chip Cookies in Bar form (go here for even more Cookie Bar Recipes).
We love these because:
- SO easy. These are so simple and classic, we make them all the time.
- Delicious. If you love cookies, then you will love these in bar form.
- Great for gatherings. We love to make these for parties, holidays like Easter and Christmas and family outings.
We often serve them with Vanilla Ice Cream, and I can safely say EVERYONE in the family loves them.
Ingredients
Just a few ingredients and steps are needed to make this chocolate chip cookie bars. Here are the ingredients needed to make the cookie dough:
- butter
- brown sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
- flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips
How to Make Cookie Bars
- PREP. Begin by greasing a 9-x-13-inch glass baking dish and setting it aside.
- WET INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well with a wooden spoon or a mixer on the lowest setting.
- DRY INGREDIENTS. Gradually add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir until well combined and pour into the prepared baking dish.
- BAKE. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake for 24–28 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan before cutting.
- SERVE. Serve warm and eat by themselves or with ice cream.
Recipe Tips
Getting perfectly baked cookie bars:
- Make sure your oven is preheated to 350 degrees before you put your bars in to avoid underbaking.
- When you remove them from the oven you’ll be able to tell that they are done if they have a slightly dull surface that when you lightly touch it a slight imprint remains. The edges of the crust should also begin to harden and slightly pull away from the surface of the baking dish.
- If your bars are undercooked, return them to bake in the oven immediately and check them for doneness at 5 minute intervals.
Variations
- White Chocolate Chips + Butterscotch Chips
- M&Ms – and we change these up with different M&Ms for the holidays
- Chocolate Chips + Toffee Bits
- Chocolate Chips + Chopped Nuts (Peanuts or Walnuts)
Storage Tips
- To STORE, just cover tightly with foil or saran wrap and store on the counter for up to 3 days.
- To reheat, just place in microwave for a few minutes to make them gooey and warm.
- Once cooked and cooled, you can FREEZE these cookie bars by placing a freezer-safe Ziploc bag and freezing for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight and reheat in the microwave.
For more Bar Recipes
Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups chocolate chips semisweet or milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-x-13-inch glass baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Gradually add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir until well combined and pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake for 24–28 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan before cutting.
Video
Notes
Variations: You can swap out the chocolate chips for a variety of other toppings to change up these bars. Here are some of our favorite combinations:
o White chocolate chips + butterscotch chips
o M&M’s (we love to use colored M&M’s for the different holidays!)
o Chocolate chips + toffee bits or peanut butter chips
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made these today. Turned into a fallen, greasy mess. We r at 9000 ft. So that probably had something to do with it. Might try again at a lower altitude.
Oh. I am so sorry 🙁 That probably does. I know you need to cook longer with higher altitude. Hope you try again 🙂
Did you mix by hand or use a hand/stand mixer
I just mix these by hand 🙂 They are our favorite go-to!! Hope you try them!
I have made a lot of cookie bar or “congo” type bars. These are hands down the best ever!!!!!
Yay!! Thank you for saying that!! I am so glad you think so 🙂
Made these with my daughter yesterday and I honestly don’t think I’ll ever make regular cookies again! These are so easy and so soft and chewy. We’ll definitely be making these for a long time!!!
Awe, thank you so much!! These are our favorite! I am so glad you think so, too!
Hello. You didn’t say if the brown sugar was supposed to be packed when measuring or not.
I always just press it down a little. It doesn’t have to be completely packed down, just give it a little press 🙂 Enjoy!
So I thought I halved this recipe and used the whole batch amount of butter!! Came out of the oven, tasted it and cried. But as my husband and I stared at it with sad and heavy hearts while I went to dump it in the trash he said, “what if we added oats?” So I stopped.. I smooshed up the baked bars and added a hand full of quick cooking oats, a sprinkle of old fashioned oats, mixed in a bit more brown sugar and whole milk so it resembled wet oats and back in the oven it went for another 20 mins.
Out came heaven.
My question is…… how many servings is this? I came back to the recipe to find out to no avail. The pan is empty.????
LOL! Way to go to your hubby! That sounds great! I do not know the amount of servings. I guess it just depends on how big or small you cut them. Thanks for sharing what you did!
Delicious! Next time I make these I’m going to try to use white and brown sugar! Family wasn’t to keen on the molasses taste but I thought they were yum! ❤️
Yay! Thank you so much for giving them a try! Glad you liked them!
They’re in the oven right now—and smell heavenly! ????
I’m so glad! Thank you for trying them!
These cookies with those chocolate chips are soooo delicious. I love those chocolate chips and its so easy to make.
Very easy!! Thanks for stopping by!!
For how many portions is this recipe?
Depending on how big you cut them, you could get at least a dozen. We usually double the recipe and put in a 9×13, because everyone loves them! Hope that helps and hope you like them!