These indulgent Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are chewy, soft, melt in your mouth and the perfect cross between a dessert bar and a classic cookie.

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Chocolate chip cookie bars cut with one having a bite taken out

I recently started eating mostly paleo, 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.

Table of Contents

Cuisine Inspiration: American Classic
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Vegetarian Indulgence
Key Flavor: Rich Chocolate meets Caramelized Sugar
Skill Level: Beginner Friendly

Key Ingredients

Unsalted Butter: This brings all the rich, creamy goodness to the mix
Dark Brown Sugar: It’s the molasses that brings that deep, caramel-like sweetness.
Large Egg: Gives your bars the perfect chew and structure.
Baking Soda: This little leavener’s gonna make sure your bars rise to the occasion.
Salt: Just a pinch to make all those sweet flavors pop and lock.
Semisweet Chocolate Chips: These morsels bring the boom boom pow – half melting into the mix, half staying chunky for that double texture hit.

An overhead of chocolate chip cookie bars in three rows

Heat the oven to 350° F.
Line an 8×8-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!

How to Store

Let them cool completely before adding them into an airtight container. Keep on your counter for up to a week, or chill them in the fridge if you like your treats cool. For a longer stash, wrap ’em up and let them hibernate in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Recipes to Try