neForget Chocolate Chip Cookies! This Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe from The 8×8 Cookbook is an absolute winner and perfect for entertaining!
I recently started eating mostly paleo (more about that here and here), and these chocolate chip cookie bars were the first indulgent treat I had this year. Let’s just say it was totally worth the cheat.
The chocolate chip cookie bars recipe comes straight from a new cookbook that I recently added to my collection, The 8×8 Cookbook by my friend Kathy Strahs. Kathy is a fantastic veteran blogger and cookbook author and was such an inspiration to me when I started my blog. This month being Black History Month, I wanted to give honor to those black women who have recently changed the game with their impressive and creative cookbooks that have motivated me in my kitchen.
To avoid being cliché, I am actually going to continue sharing recipes from what I call #blackgirlmagic cookbooks through April. Last year, an unprecedented amount of African American woman authored cookbooks were released in the marketplace, and it shows how much talent, perspective and creativity the market was missing before they were released. I’m so excited that I could share some of these gifts with you on my site, and I’m truly excited to start with this book because it was such a labor of love for the author. Kathy actually raised funds to self-publish this book through KickStarter. Her entire campaign was so well run and inspiring. Check out and support this book.
I love the idea of this book because everything is created within an 8×8 inch dish. This works perfectly for small families like mine where its just me and the hubby. Going through the book, I saw several recipes that I wanted to share. It also helps when you make this easy and delicious recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars because you won’t need a huge pan to entice you with. Even though, you might want to make two pans but I won’t tell.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 stick
- 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350° F.
- Line an 8x8-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter and both sugars together for several minutes until they’re light and fluffy, either with an electric mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Beat in the egg and vanilla until they’re well combined. Separately, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until they’re well combined. Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
- Pour the dough into the prepared pan, spreading it to the edges and corners (it doesn’t have to be perfect—the dough will further spread in the oven). Bake until the bars are fully set and lightly browned on top, about 25 minutes. Allow them to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat the remaining chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring after each heating, until they’re fully melted (alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in a double-boiler on the stove). Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooled cookie bars before cutting and serving.
- BETTER YET: Cutting a pan of chocolate chip cookies into bars takes a whole lot less effort than scooping individual drop cookies!
Nutrition
Excerpted from The 8×8 Cookbook: Square Meals for Weeknight Family Dinners, Desserts and More—In One Perfect 8×8-Inch Dish, by Kathy Strahs (Burnt Cheese Press, 2015). Reprinted with permission.
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These are amazingly delicious but I don’t get the directions in where it says, pour the batter into the pan..They can’t be poured as they always have a pie crust consistency. At first I thought I did something because I have to press them into the pan every-time. My husband can’t wait for them to cool off as he has to eat them as soon as they come out of the oven.
I made your chocolate chip bars for Christmas and they were amazing. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I have made several of your pound cakes in the past year and each one has been perfect! As a Southerner, I think that baking pound cakes must be embedded in my DNA. Today was the end of the school year for my young grandchildren so I made these cookie bars for them. I was informed that this was the very best of any chocolate chip bars I’ve made for them. High praise indeed for your recipe. Thanks for posting this and also for highlighting that cookbook. (I’m ordering it.)
Can self rising flour be used in place of the flour,soda and salt?
No I wouldn’t do any substitutions for this.
What are the calories/ nutrient facts on these bars?
Hi Pat, the information may not have been provided in the cookbook. I actually use MyFitnessPal to come up with calories and nutritional facts for my recipes. It does it automatically once you plug in the link to the website.
this recipe is better than any chocolate chip cookie i’ve ever had or made — thank you so much to you and kathy for sharing this recipe!! i’m excited to pick up the 8×8 cookbook!!
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it!
Just made these and they are bomb! Thanks for sharing!
This look amazing! My boys would love these. I also now need to add this cookbook to my never-ending cookbook wishlist. LOL
Yes indeed!
Great recipe! Just ordered Kathy’s book! Thanks for the suggestion!!
Indeed! I hope you enjoy.