Easy Cookie Bars Recipe

These cookie bars are easy to make and will vanish in an instant.  They’re soft and chewy and are made with basic kitchen ingredients in just half an hour.

This cookie bar recipe does not use granulated sugar, but rather brown sugar which, when combined with butter, creates notes of caramel and makes the bars really delicious and downright addictive. 

That’s not the only sweet thing you’ll love about these cookies.

Why You’ll Love These Cookie Bars

• There are no artificial ingredients or preservatives in these tasty cookies.
• They make a sweet treat for work and school lunch boxes.
• They are versatile.  Don’t like chocolate?  Make them with raisins.  (See below for other flavor combinations.)
• Because they are baked as one big bar, you save time by not forming individual cookies.

Let’s take a look at how to make chocolate chip bars.

How To Make Cookie Bars

For this recipe, you need the following:   

Equipment

• 11×13 rimmed baking sheet
• Food processor

Ingredients

• ¾ cup old fashioned oats
• 2 cups all-purpose flour scooped and leveled
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter (salted butter works, too)
• 1 ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I like dark chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Lightly spray baking pan with non-stick spray. (You can line the pan with parchment paper, if you’d like.) Set the pan aside.
• Add oats, flour, baking soda, and salt to the food processor bowl and pulse until oats are finely chopped.  
• Melt butter in a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
• Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
• Fold chocolate chips into cookie dough.

• Spread cookie dough across the surface of the prepared baking dish. Be sure that the dough covers the entire pan.

• Bake the cookie bar for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

• Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

If you don’t have an 11×13 pan, you can use a 10×13 pan.  Simply add 2 minutes to the baking time if you are using a smaller pan.

Cookie Bar Variations

This cookie bar recipe can be made with different add-ins.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, but feel free to use your favorite add-ins in place of the chocolate.  Below are some ideas for cookie dough add-ins:

• 2 cups of raisins
• 1 cup of raisins + 1 cup of toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts, and peanuts pair well with oats and raisins)
• 1 cup of coconut + 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 2 cups peanut butter chips
• 1 cup peanut butter chips + 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup toasted pecans + 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 2 cups chocolate chunks

This recipe will create one large cookie, similar to what find at the mall. You could even make a batch of buttercream frosting and decorate the cookie. Skip the mall, make this instead, and save yourself some money.

Hungry for more cookie recipes? Some of my favorite recipes are Toasted Pecan Cookies, Orange Cookies, and Tea Cakes (yes, they are actually cookies!).

Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Cookie Bars Turned Out!