Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies: In the Oven in Less than 10 Minutes
These Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies give you all the flavor of
a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, but this recipe saves baking time and
clean up time.
As with other bar cookies, you bake all the cookies at once and in one pan.
Yet while bar cookies get a bad rap in that they tend to be too dry (and typically chocolate chip bars are no exception), this recipe is different. These bars have the same texture as a soft, velvety chocolate chip cookie. They are moist ...almost like a chocolate chip truffle. The trick is to not over bake the bars.
The secret here (a very short bake time) adds to the recipe's "quick" factor.
Prep time: <10 minutes
Bake time: 14-18 minutes
Makes about 35-40 bars
Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
½ cup shortening, such as Crisco® Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (1-12 ounce bag) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375º F. Spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with
vegetable spray. Or line pan with aluminum foil, allowing ends of foil to
extend over two sides of the pan. Coat the foil lightly with non-stick cooking
spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking soda,
and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed,
cream butter, shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and
fluffy, scraping the bowl continually. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in
vanilla. Beat the mixture for 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Turn mixer speed to low. Gradually add dry ingredients,
scraping the bowl as you go, until just blended.
- Use a large spoon to fold chocolate chips into the cookie
dough, mixing them only until they are distributed evenly.
- Spread the dough in the prepared baking pan. Use an angled
spatula (also called an offset spatula) to press the dough evenly in the pan.
- Bake the bars for 14-18 minutes. Do not over bake the bars.
The surface will appear undercooked.
- Remove baking pan from the oven. Allow bars to cool completely
in the pan. You may wish to set the bars in the refrigerator to cool and set
after about 30-60 minutes.
- Grasp ends of aluminum foil and lift the bars from the pan.
Set bars on a cutting board. Peel away foil. Use a sharp knife to cut cookies
into 5 rows by 7 rows (or any other size you wish.) Remove bars from the pan
with a spatula.
- Store bars in an airtight container.
Special Baking Tip for Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies
Typical chocolate chip bars are dry and hard because they are over baked. These Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies are soft and moist. The key to this marvelous texture is two-fold:
- Bake bars at a slightly higher temperature than normal (375º F) in order to set the cookie dough.
- Remove bars from the oven before the cookie surface or edges turn brown. Remember, the bars retain heat and continue to set after they are removed from the oven. Don’t let a light-colored surface lure you into leaving the bars in the oven longer.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes and Tips from The Elf
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe ...
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies: chocolate chip cookie variation ...
Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Squares from Bake-Off #38 ...
Chocolate Chip Shortbread recipe ...
Easy chocolate chip cookies - just 5 ingredients!
Fran's Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies ...
Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies ...
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies: Just 7 Ingredients ...
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe ...
Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies: a variation of the classic recipe ...
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: easy variation ...
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies: easy cake mix cookie recipe ...
All about different chocolate chip varieties ...
All about chocolate chip cookies: a quick history ...
Return from Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies to The Cookie Elf home
Find A Cookie Recipe or Cookie Baking Tip
The Cookie Elf
FREE! 6 Easy Cookies Recipes for Kids and Families
Get your free copy here or when you fill in the form below.
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.