Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars to the rescue! Instead of having to scoop and bake individual cookies, these cookie bars require minimal effort. No scooping required. Just press into the pan and bake! You don’t even have to use a mixer if you don’t want to. These chewy, buttery, chocolatey cookie bars are now our preferred take-along, crowd-serving treat because they check all of our cookie boxes. Plus, they’re so freezer-friendly, I can always have the dough on hand when the need for a bar cookie arises.

Even easy recipes benefit from a little extra attention to detail. Keep these few things in mind and you’ll end up with perfect bar cookies every time.

If you’re a chocolate-fiend like me, chop up a bar of semi-sweet chocolate to use in the cookie dough. They result in pools of gooey chocolate in your cookie bars.Beating the butter-sugar-egg mixture until it resembles fluffy peanut butter leaves your cookies with a slightly crisp exterior. Blending the flour in for a little while longer than normal gives them a chewy texture.For larger cookies, cut the baked cookie into 12 pieces of equal size. For party sized cookie bars, cut them into 24 pieces. The great thing about this recipe is you can get as little or as many cookies as you want from it.

Swaps, Subs, and Variations

Making a recipe your own is half the fun. Below I suggest just a few ways you can mix the recipe up for greater variety in your cookie baking repertoire.

I add a cup of chopped walnuts to my chocolate chip bar cookies. Pecans are a great sub, but you can also omit the nuts altogether. Sprinkle the top of the dough with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt just before baking for even more sweet and salty flavor. Replace the melted butter with brown butter for a nuttier flavor.  You can use colored chocolate candies, chopped mint chocolate, or caramel chocolate pieces for the instead of chocolate chips or top with a 1/4 cup of sprinkles to suit a particular holiday or theme. Mix in 1/2 cup of marshmallows, swirl in a cup of caramel, or a cup of peanut butter to create even more variations. 

Be sure to bake the cookies thoroughly. As tempting as gooey cookies sound, you need the center to set in order to cut them into bars with even lines. The edges of the baked cookies should be slightly darker than the center. Here are a few extra tips for cutting cookie bars:

If you want those super-sharp lines, it’s important to allow the cookies to cool completely.Use parchment paper to line your cookie pan. Spray the pan lightly with baking spray before laying crossing sheets of parchment inside. The parchment will not only help you lift the baked cookie from the pan, but it will also give your cookies sharp, not crumbly, edges.Cut straight down and up when slicing your cookies. Dragging the knife tears the cookies, which results in jagged edges.

These bars store best at room temperature. Transfer the chocolate chip cookie bars to an airtight container and store them on the countertop for up to 5 days. To give them a freshly baked taste, reheat them in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars freeze well both before and after baking. I like to freeze the raw dough in the shape I plan to bake it in. To freeze cookie bars before baking:

 Press the dough into a parchment-lined baking pan and press a piece of lightly greased parchment directly onto the surface of the dough.Freeze the dough until it is solid before removing it, paper, and all, from the pan.Wrap the frozen dough in a layer of plastic film or foil and return it to the freezer.Freeze the dough for up to 2 months.Thaw the dough in the refrigerator before baking as instructed.

To freeze the baked bar cookies:

Leave the sheet of cooled, baked cookie dough whole or cut it into bars.Wrap the cookie in plastic wrap or transfer it to a freezer storage container and freeze for 1 month or less.Thaw the bar cookies at room temperature when you’re ready to eat them, cutting if you’ve left the cookie whole.

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Set your electric hand mixer, fitted with the beaters to low speed and beat for 30 seconds. After the sugars and butter are combined, increase the speed to medium-low and blend for another 30 seconds. The mixture will resemble a thick paste. Once these are fully mixed-in, spread the dough into the prepared baking pan in an even layer, pressing down to expel any pockets of air in the dough. Using a sharp knife press down, rather than drag it through, to cut the cookies into your desired amount of bars. Store leftover bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.