Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Studded with dark and bittersweet chocolate chips, these light and fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are the perfect consistency and so easy to eat. Inspired by a birthday cookie cake, these easy cookie bars are perfect for a party or any type of gathering. Makes 24 bars.

Bar cookie lover? Don’t miss out on these Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars, Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars and Orange Cranberry Bars!

For our older daughter’s first birthday, my husband insisted on a cookie cake for her, even though I was already baking cupcakes.

“We need to have it.”

And so we did… and when our daughter bit into one of the little cookie bar squares on her first birthday, her eyes lit up. (Or so I’m told—I wasn’t around for her first bite of sugary goodness.)

And these cookie bars right here? We’ve been making ‘em ever since.

More celebratory dessert recipes: Funfetti Ice Cream Sandwiches / Chocolate-Covered Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling and Raspberry Buttercream Frosting / All-Butter Tea Cake Cookies / Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars

What you’ll need to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Stand mixer (or a hand mixer and mixing bowl)
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 9”x13” baking pan
• Your favorite kind of chocolate chips (I’m partial to bittersweet and dark chocolate chips, but you could definitely use milk or semisweet ones, too!)

How to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Cream the butter and sugars together.

Start off by measuring in the softened butter, Dixie Crystals granulated sugar and brown sugar into the base of your stand mixer. (This can also be done in a big bowl and with a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer.) Use the flat beater attachment to cream these ingredients together until light and fluffy.

This step is hugely important because creaming the sugar and butter makes for a fluffy, light cookie bar. Essentially, the creaming process adds air the batter, creating air pockets so the dough can rise even more when it gets into the oven.

It’s the same principal as whipping cream for whipped cream and the air added to that making the whipped cream light and fluffy and delightful, instead of sitting dense, or worse, oily, on your tongue.)

Add the egg and vanilla into the batter, too.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula before adding these beauties to the mix.

Once they’re in the bowl, beat them until combined, and scrape down the sides again to ensure all the ingredients are actually mixing into the batter.

Measure in the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.

Gently scoop the flour, salt and soda into the mixing bowl. You could do half of this, mix it together, then add the other half, but I like to let my stand mixer do the heavy lifting for me. Also, this part is super fun for my daughter.

Be sure to turn on the stand mixer at a super low speed at first so you don’t get covered in flour. Been there, done that, won’t make that mistake again. 😉

And once the flour has been added, throw in the chocolate chips, too!

Press the cookie bar dough into a prepared baking sheet, and bake.

Unlike cookies, you won’t let the cookie bar dough chill in the fridge because we don’t have to worry if the batter spreads.

Instead, we’ll spray a 9”x13” baking pan with nonstick baking spray, then press the cookie dough into it with our hands. If you’re afraid that all the dough will stick to your hands, don’t. (If you worry about this, spray your hands with nonstick baking spray before pressing the bars into shape.)

Once the dough is spread into the pan, pop it in the oven and bake.

FAQs for making the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

What exactly is a bar cookie?

A bar cookie is a cookie that’s baked into bar form instead of individual morsels. It’s denser than a cake and a similar consistency to a cookie.

Once the cookie bars bake in their pan, let them cool. Once cooled, slice into square or rectangular pieces for eating.

Can you make these in advance?

Yes! We’ve made these beauts every year for our older daughter’s birthday party, and I make them 1-2 days in advance.

Follow the instructions laid out in the recipe card below, then allow them a few hours to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, or slice, transfer to a plate, then cover with plastic wrap, and you’re good to go!

Help! I don’t have a 9”x13” baking pan. Can I use a jelly roll pan instead?

Absolutely! A jelly roll pan would work perfectly for these. Just be sure it’s sprayed well with the nonstick baking spray before baking.

Quick tips for making Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Make them dairy free cookie bars by substituting equal parts coconut oil and applesauce for the butter. This will make for a softer cookie bar, but they’re still delicious. We’ve made them this way tons of times.
• Store the cookie bars on a plate with plastic wrap over it or in their original baking dish, covered, for a few days. (They never last that long in our house, though!)
• If you don’t like bittersweet or dark chocolate chips, use milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips instead. Those will make these chocolate chip cookie bars sweeter, so aim to use about a cup.

Wednesday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

• Buttermilk Carrot Cake by The Crumby Kitchen
• Carrot Cake Baked Donuts with Cream Cheese Glaze by House of Nash Eats
• Coconut Cream Sweet Rolls by Cooking With Carlee
• Crêpes with Orange Caramel and Mascarpone by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Easter White Chocolate Dipped Sugar Cookies by A Savory Feast
• Easy Pina Colada yogurt parfaits by Creative Southern Home
• Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Cake Mix Crust by Our Good Life
• Key Lime Tart by Sweet Beginnings
• Krispy Peeps Treats by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lavender Blueberry Cheesecake Bars by The Gingered Whisk
• Lemon Blueberry Baked Donuts by Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Blueberry Scones by Blogghetti
• Lemon Shortbread Bars by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
• Lemon Totos by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Marshmallow Chick Cupcake by Simply Inspired Meals
• Peeps Snack Mix by Home Sweet Homestead
• Rainbow Cookies by Kate’s Recipe Box
• Spring Bling Meyer Lemon Almond Cake by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Spring Sugar Cookie Bars by Cookaholic Wife
• Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies by The Tip Garden
• Tres Leches Cake by Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
• Vegan Raspberry Dark Chocolate Energy Bites by The Baking Fairy
• Welcome Spring Gravity Drip Cake by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks