The Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies: A Dietitian’s Easy Sheet Pan Recipe in Under 30 Minutes
Craving warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies but short on time? Look no further! This recipe for the absolute best chewy Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies delivers incredible flavor and texture in less than 30 minutes, all from the kitchen of a registered dietitian. Forget the fuss of traditional cookie baking; these convenient cookie bars are designed for speed, simplicity, and irresistible deliciousness. Get ready to bake a batch that will disappear in no time!
These are the exact same incredible Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars that I’ve been perfecting and making for years. I’ve simply given this beloved recipe a fresh update with a new name, stunning new photos, and a smoother, more engaging flow. The essence of the recipe remains: pure, unadulterated cookie joy in bar form, now more accessible than ever! 😍
As a dietitian, people often assume my diet consists solely of fruits and vegetables. While I absolutely adore everything about nature’s bounty, I also have a deep love for chocolate – and cookies! Yes, you read that right. I don’t just “let” my kids enjoy cookies; I happily indulge in them myself. It’s all about balance, mindfulness, and enjoying delicious foods without guilt.
Once I perfected this simple recipe for chewy cookie bars, I practically stopped making traditional individual cookies. Why? Because baking separate cookies takes so much more time, effort, and often results in more dishes to clean. These sheet pan cookies are so incredibly easy to whip up that you might find yourself making them on repeat for every occasion – busy weeknights, last-minute potlucks, or just a spontaneous sweet treat. This recipe is genuinely a lifesaver for anyone who loves homemade desserts without the usual hassle. Sorry, not sorry!
If you’re familiar with my recipes or have tried my easy chocolate cupcakes with homemade frosting, you know my cooking philosophy centers around keeping things simple, achievable, and utterly delicious. This chocolate chip pan cookie recipe is no exception. It’s designed to be straightforward, using common ingredients and minimal fuss, so you can enjoy fantastic homemade treats without feeling overwhelmed. See, I’ve got you covered for quick, delicious, and slightly healthier desserts that fit seamlessly into your life!
If you’re eager to jump straight to the recipe, use the convenient link below:
[feast_advanced_jump_to]Why You’ll Love This Easy Sheet Pan Cookie Recipe
These chocolate chip sheet pan cookie bars are a true revelation for anyone who loves homemade cookies but dreads the time and mess involved in traditional baking. Here’s why this recipe will quickly become a cherished favorite in your household:
- Effortlessly Easy & Exceptionally Quick: The days of scooping out individual cookie dough balls and juggling multiple baking sheets are over! This ingenious single-sheet pan method drastically simplifies the entire process. It’s an absolute dream for busy weeknights when you need a quick dessert fix, or when you’re entertaining a crowd and want minimal effort. Furthermore, these bars are perfectly sized for packing into lunchboxes, serving at parties, or simply grabbing for a satisfying snack. The entire preparation and baking process clocks in at under 30 minutes, delivering fresh-baked goodness in record time!
- Made with Simple, Pantry-Friendly Ingredients: You won’t need to embark on a quest for obscure or expensive ingredients. All the components required for these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are readily available at any standard grocery store. In fact, you likely already have most, if not all, of them in your pantry right now. This makes spontaneous baking sessions entirely possible! Even if you don’t have white whole wheat flour on hand, an easy substitute with all-purpose flour means you’re always just minutes away from baking up a delicious batch.
- Guaranteed Easy Cleanup: One of the most celebrated perks of baking these sheet pan cookies is the remarkably easy cleanup. By simply lining your baking sheet with parchment paper, all you have to do after enjoying your treats is toss the used paper in the trash. The mixing bowl and a few utensils can then go straight into the dishwasher, freeing you up to truly savor your delicious creation without the usual dreaded post-baking chore. Less mess means more enjoyment!
- A ‘Healthier’ & Mindful Indulgence: As a dietitian, I firmly believe in enjoying all foods, including desserts, as part of a balanced and mindful eating pattern. This recipe is thoughtfully crafted with less added sugar, a reduced amount of butter, and fewer chocolate chips compared to many traditional cookie recipes. Despite these clever modifications, these cookie bars still deliver all the beloved, rich flavors and the wonderfully chewy texture that everyone craves. This thoughtful approach means you can enjoy a treat that’s a little lighter in saturated fat and added sugars, without sacrificing taste. The inclusion of fiber from white whole wheat flour further enhances these cookie bars, making them a touch more filling and adding a valuable nutritional boost without compromising their irresistible appeal. It’s a win-win for your taste buds and your well-being!
Dietitian’s Insight: Smart Baking for Better Balance
As a dietitian, my primary goal isn’t to eliminate delicious treats from your life, but rather to empower you to make informed choices and subtle modifications that can enhance nutrition without ever sacrificing flavor. It’s truly amazing how sometimes, making minor tweaks to a beloved recipe can yield the same, or even better, results than the original. The secret weapon here is the power of gradual change and careful experimentation. Instead of a complete dietary overhaul, I advocate for starting small – try substituting some, but not all, of a particular ingredient at first. This gentle approach helps maintain the familiar taste and texture you love while subtly improving the nutritional profile over time.
You’ll notice in this particular chocolate chip pan cookie recipe that I strategically use a mixture of white whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, rather than relying on just one type. Through my extensive kitchen experiments, I’ve found that using solely traditional whole wheat flour can sometimes result in a denser, heavier, and ultimately less palatable cookie. By blending it with unbleached all-purpose flour, I discovered a sweet spot that offers the best of both worlds: the robust nutritional benefits of whole grains (including that valuable fiber!) beautifully combined with the light, tender, and perfectly chewy texture that makes these cookie bars so utterly appealing. It’s a testament to how taste and nutrition can not only coexist but truly complement each other.
To be crystal clear, my entire food philosophy revolves around enjoying food wholeheartedly and shedding any guilt or shame associated with eating anything, especially a warm, chewy cookie (even when it’s decadently served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, haha!). My passion lies in helping people discover easy, practical, and incredibly delicious ways to naturally increase their fiber intake and judiciously reduce their consumption of saturated fat and added sugars in their everyday meals and beloved treats. These chocolate chip pan cookies are a perfect embodiment of how you can achieve that wonderful balance. So go ahead, enjoy every single bite, guilt-free! 🤩
Key Ingredients for Perfectly Chewy Pan Cookies
A truly great recipe always begins with quality ingredients. Here’s a closer look at what you’ll need for these chewy chocolate chip pan cookies, along with insights into why each component plays a crucial role in achieving that perfect taste and texture:
- White Whole Wheat Flour: This is an absolutely fantastic ingredient for incorporating whole grain nutrition into your baking without the heavy, dense texture often associated with traditional whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour is milled from a lighter variety of wheat, resulting in a flour that’s both lighter in color and finer in texture. Crucially, it retains the same impressive nutritional value as regular whole wheat, including a good source of fiber and essential nutrients. I personally recommend the King Arthur brand for its consistent quality and reliable results.
- All-Purpose Flour: To achieve that perfectly familiar, tender, and wonderfully chewy texture that everyone loves in a classic cookie bar, I strategically incorporate unbleached all-purpose flour alongside the white whole wheat flour. This thoughtful combination strikes a beautiful balance, ensuring your pan cookies are not only incredibly delicious but also boast a slightly enhanced nutritional profile while maintaining that irresistible chewiness.
- Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature): Butter is much more than just a flavor enhancer; it’s a critical component for the structure, moisture, and rich mouthfeel of these chocolate chip cookie bars. Using unsalted butter gives you precise control over the overall salt content of your recipe. Most importantly, ensure your butter is at proper room temperature – it should be soft enough to make an indentation with your finger, but still hold its shape. Softened butter creams beautifully with sugar, creating a light and airy base for your dough, which is fundamental to achieving the ultimate chewy texture.
- Chocolate Chips: What would a chocolate chip cookie be without its namesake? I almost exclusively use semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe for their perfectly balanced sweetness, which wonderfully complements the slightly reduced sugar content. However, feel free to let your creativity (and preferences) guide you! I’ve made these pan cookies with a delightful mixture that included creamy white chocolate chips, and they were absolutely divine. If you prefer the milky sweetness of milk chocolate chips or the deep intensity of dark chocolate, go for it! You can even chop up your favorite chocolate bar into rustic chocolate chunks for an artisan touch and lovely pockets of melted chocolate.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: The specific combination of both brown and granulated sugars is paramount to the characteristic chewy texture and depth of flavor in these cookie bars. Brown sugar, with its molasses content, adds essential moisture and contributes significantly to that irresistible chewiness. Granulated sugar, on the other hand, helps create those slightly crisp edges and contributes to the dough’s spread during baking.
- Eggs: Eggs serve multiple vital roles in baking: they bind all the ingredients together, provide crucial moisture, and contribute to the rich, tender texture of the cookie bars. Make sure they are at room temperature for better emulsification.
- Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract is a non-negotiable ingredient that elevates and enhances all the other flavors in the cookies, adding warmth, complexity, and a familiar, comforting aroma.
- Baking Soda & Salt: These seemingly small components are absolutely vital. Baking soda acts as a leavening agent, helping the cookies rise slightly and spread to create that desired chewy texture. Salt, equally important, balances the sweetness of the sugars and chocolate, bringing out the nuanced flavors and preventing the bars from tasting overly sweet.
How to Make the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies
Making these chocolate chip cookie bars is incredibly simple, straightforward, and satisfying – designed for minimal fuss and maximum deliciousness. Here’s a quick overview of the essential steps you’ll take. For the complete, detailed list of ingredients with exact measurements and precise instructions, please scroll down to the full recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Cream Wet Ingredients: Begin by preheating your oven and lining your baking sheet. Then, in a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer (either a stand mixer or a hand mixer) to thoroughly cream together the softened butter, both brown and granulated sugars, and vanilla extract until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and pale. This usually takes about 2-3 minutes. Once combined, beat in the eggs one at a time until they are fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: While your wet ingredients are creaming, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate medium bowl. This ensures even distribution of the leavening and seasoning. Gradually add this dry mixture to the wet ingredients, incorporating it about a quarter of a cup at a time, and mix on low speed until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the dough, as this can lead to tough cookies.
- Fold in Chocolate Chips & Spread Dough: Once your dough is ready, gently stir in the chocolate chips using a sturdy spoon or a rubber spatula until they are evenly distributed throughout. Then, press the entire batch of dough evenly onto your prepared 9×13-inch baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. You can use the back of a spoon or lightly floured hands to ensure an even layer from edge to edge.
- Bake to Golden Perfection: Place your sheet pan into the preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for approximately 16-17 minutes, or until the edges are a beautiful light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. It’s crucial not to overbake for the chewiest results! Once baked, remove from the oven and allow the cookie bars to cool completely in the pan before carefully lifting them out with the parchment paper, slicing them into squares, and enjoying your irresistible homemade chewy cookie bars!
Helpful Baking Tips for Ultimate Pan Cookie Success
Achieving perfectly chewy chocolate chip pan cookies is incredibly easy, especially when you have a few simple tricks up your sleeve. These expert tips will help ensure your cookie bars turn out wonderfully soft, chewy, and utterly delicious every single time you bake them:
- Parchment Paper is Your Ultimate Ally: Seriously, this step is a non-negotiable secret weapon! Using parchment paper to generously line your rimmed baking pan makes cleanup incredibly simple and effortless. The baked cookie bars will lift right out of the pan without sticking, and all you have to do is simply toss the used paper in the trash. If you find yourself in a pinch and absolutely don’t have parchment paper, a well-greased baking sheet is the next best option, but be prepared for a bit more effort when it comes to removal and cleaning.
- Scrape the Bowl for Consistent Mixing: As you’re mixing your dough, especially during the crucial creaming of the wet ingredients, make it a habit to use a rubber spatula to frequently scrape down the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl. This seemingly small step ensures that all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated into the dough, preventing any dry pockets of unmixed flour or uncreamed sugar, which ultimately leads to a consistent, even texture throughout your cookie bars.
- Flexible Pan Sizing: While a standard 9×13-inch sheet pan is often considered ideal for these pan cookies, don’t fret if you don’t own one. Any rimmed baking pan of a similar size will work perfectly. The “rimmed” part is the most critical aspect, as it prevents any butter or dough from potentially overflowing in your oven during baking.
- Use Your Hands for Even Spreading: Cookie dough can sometimes be quite sticky and challenging to work with. Often, the easiest and most effective way to spread it evenly into the prepared pan is by simply using the clean palm of your hand. For an even easier time, you can lightly flour your hands or spray them with a tiny bit of cooking spray to prevent any sticking.
- Allow Room for Dough Expansion: When you’re carefully spreading out the cookie dough in the pan, remember to leave a small, uniform amount of space – roughly half an inch – around all sides of the pan. This thoughtful allowance gives the cookie dough the necessary room to expand slightly as it bakes, which contributes to perfectly shaped bars and ensures even cooking without thin, crispy edges.
- Prep Dry Ingredients in Advance for Efficiency: To save valuable time and streamline your baking process, especially on those busy days, combine all your dry ingredients (the flours, baking soda, and salt) in a separate medium bowl while the butter and sugars are creaming together. This simple organizational hack ensures that you’re ready to swiftly incorporate the dry mixture into the wet ingredients without any delays.
- The Importance of Room Temperature Butter: Butter at proper room temperature should be soft enough to easily make an indentation with your finger, but crucially, it must still hold its original shape and not appear melted or greasy. A common mistake is allowing it to get too warm. For instance, I’ve personally learned from experience (and a few too-soft, flat batches!) not to place butter on the counter directly above a running dishwasher, as the ambient heat can quickly over-soften it, impacting the final texture of your cookie bars.
- Watch Baking Time Closely: These chocolate chip pan cookies are designed to bake at a slightly higher temperature (375°F) for a shorter duration. This specific baking profile contributes to their quick cooking time and creates those wonderfully chewy edges and a soft interior. Because of this, the baking time is quite specific and requires your close attention. Keep a watchful eye on them towards the end of the baking cycle to prevent any dreaded overcooking. You’re aiming for those beautiful, lightly golden-brown edges and a toothpick inserted into the center that comes out clean, ensuring a perfectly chewy, not dry or crumbly, result.
- No Chocolate Chips? No Problem!: Don’t let a temporary shortage of chocolate chips deter you from making these delicious cookie bars! If you’re out, simply grab your favorite chocolate bar – whether it’s semi-sweet, milk, or dark – and roughly chop it into irregular chocolate chunks. This often creates delightful pockets of melted chocolate and a more rustic appearance throughout the bars. I’ve successfully done this many times, even when traveling abroad in places like The Netherlands, where finding traditional chocolate chips was a challenge!
- Experiment with Oat Flour for Added Softness: For a delightful variation that offers an even softer cookie bar texture and a subtle nutty flavor, you can easily substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour with oat flour. Oat flour naturally lends a lovely tenderness to baked goods and adds some additional fiber. We absolutely love these cookie bars both with and without the oat flour, so feel free to experiment and find your favorite texture!
- Avoid Overmixing the Dough: Once you’ve added the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, it’s crucial to mix only until they are just combined and no streaks of dry flour remain. Overmixing the dough develops the gluten in the flour excessively, which can unfortunately lead to tough, rather than wonderfully chewy, cookie bars.
- Cool Completely Before Cutting: While the aroma of warm, freshly baked cookies is incredibly tempting, it’s vital to allow the chocolate chip pan cookies to cool almost completely in the pan before attempting to cut them into neat squares. This crucial cooling period allows the bars to set properly, making them much easier to slice cleanly and preventing them from crumbling or falling apart. Patience truly is a virtue here!
Frequently Asked Questions About These Chewy Pan Cookies
Here are some common questions you might have about making, storing, and customizing these delicious chocolate chip pan cookies to fit your preferences:
Absolutely, these chocolate chip cookie bars freeze beautifully, making them an excellent option for meal prepping desserts or having a convenient treat ready whenever a craving strikes! Once the cookie bars have cooled completely to room temperature, you can easily store them in a freezer-safe airtight container or a heavy-duty re-sealable plastic bag. For the very best results and to prevent them from sticking together, I highly recommend placing a small piece of parchment paper or wax paper between layers of cookie bars. When you’re ready to indulge, simply defrost them at room temperature for an hour or two. While they might not be quite as soft and warm as when they were freshly baked, they will still retain their fantastic flavor and wonderfully chewy texture, offering a delicious frozen treat option.
The delightful beauty of these chocolate chip pan cookies lies in their versatility when it comes to your choice of chocolate! Ultimately, you should use whatever type of chocolate chips you have readily available in your pantry, or more importantly, what your family and personal preferences dictate. I personally always keep a varied stock of both semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips on hand, as they offer different flavor profiles. My kids, being kids, typically lean towards the classic semi-sweet variety, which provides a lovely, balanced sweetness that’s universally appealing. However, do not hesitate to use creamy milk chocolate for a sweeter, milder bar, or rich dark chocolate for a more intense and sophisticated flavor. A creative mix of different types of chocolate chips can also create an exciting and complex flavor profile in your cookie bars!
While you technically can substitute melted butter or a liquid oil (like vegetable oil or canola oil) for softened butter in this recipe, it’s important to be fully aware that doing so will significantly alter the final texture of your cookie bars. Softened butter, when properly creamed with sugar, creates tiny air pockets that are crucial for achieving a lighter, chewier cookie with a tender crumb. Melted butter or oil, on the other hand, will result in a much denser, gooier, and flatter bar – a texture that is more akin to a rich, fudgy blondie than a traditional chewy cookie bar. So, if you are specifically aiming for that very fudgy, blondie-like texture, then by all means, go for it! But for the classic, wonderfully chewy chocolate chip pan cookie experience described in this recipe, it is best to stick to softened butter.
More Delicious Bar & Blondie Recipes You’ll Love
If you absolutely loved these chewy chocolate chip pan cookies and are looking for similar easy-to-make, satisfying sweet treats, be sure to check out these other fantastic bar and blondie recipes from my kitchen. They are all equally easy to prepare and utterly delightful:
- White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondies: A vibrant and sweet treat with fruity bursts.
- Vegan Blondies with Chocolate Chips: A delightful plant-based option for everyone to enjoy.
- Chocolate Covered Pineapple: A refreshing and simple chocolatey fruit dessert!
Explore More Easy Dessert Ideas
My culinary philosophy is all about making delicious food accessible and enjoyable for everyone. If you’re looking for other simple yet incredibly satisfying sweet treats that won’t keep you in the kitchen all day, my collection of easy dessert recipes has you wonderfully covered. From delightful cupcakes to even more blondie variations, you’ll find something quick, scrumptious, and perfect for every occasion.
- Easiest Chocolate Cupcakes (from Scratch!)
- Best Homemade Chocolate Frosting
- Super Easy Vegan Blondies
- Easy Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies
Did your family absolutely love these incredible chocolate chip pan cookies? We would be thrilled if you could please consider leaving a 5-star rating below or sharing your valuable feedback in the comments section! Your honest reviews and ratings are incredibly helpful to me and help other home bakers discover and enjoy this delicious and easy recipe too.
Don’t forget to snap a pic of your perfectly chewy cookie bars and tag @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram so I can see all your delicious creations. Happy baking and enjoying every single bite!
📖 Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Pan Cookies
KristiEquipment
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Stand or hand mixer
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Rimmed 9×13 inch baking pan
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Parchment paper
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Large mixing bowl
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Rubber spatula
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour see notes section for option to substitute some of this with oat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup brown sugar packed.
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter at room temperature (see notes below)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla use pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 6 ounces chocolate chips ½ of a standard size package
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 375° Fahrenheit (190°C).
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Line a large, rimmed baking sheet (ideally 9×13 inch) with parchment paper. Leave a slight overhang on the sides for easy lifting after baking.
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Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer in a large bowl), cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color. This process typically takes about 2-3 minutes.⅔ cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla
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While the wet ingredients are creaming, combine the white whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate medium bowl. Whisk them together thoroughly to ensure all dry ingredients are evenly distributed, then set aside.1 cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
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Add the two large eggs to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Mix well until everything is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure no unmixed ingredients remain.2 large eggs
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Gradually add the prepared dry ingredients to the wet mixture, incorporating them about one-quarter cup at a time. Mix on low speed just until the dry ingredients are combined and no streaks of flour are visible. Be very careful not to overmix the dough, as this can lead to tough cookie bars.
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Once the cookie dough has formed, gently stir in the chocolate chips using a sturdy spoon or a rubber spatula until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Avoid overmixing once the chocolate chips are added.6 ounces chocolate chips
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Carefully spread the entire cookie dough mixture out evenly onto the prepared, parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. You can use the back of a spoon or lightly floured hands to ensure an even layer that reaches close to the edges of the pan, leaving a small margin for expansion.
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Bake for 16-17 minutes in the preheated oven. The chocolate chip pan cookies are ready when their edges are a beautiful light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs attached. It’s important not to overbake for the chewiest, most delicious results.
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Once baked, remove the pan from the oven and allow the chocolate chip pan cookies to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting them into squares. This cooling step is crucial for them to set properly and hold their shape, making them easier to slice. Then, serve and enjoy your homemade chewy cookie bars!
Notes
- Scraping the bowl: Always use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl as needed during the creaming and mixing stages. This simple but important step ensures all ingredients are thoroughly combined for a perfectly consistent dough.
- Pan size flexibility: If you don’t have a standard 9×13 inch sheet pan, any other similarly sized rimmed baking pan will work well. Just ensure the baking pan you use has a rim to contain the dough as it bakes and prevents any overflow.
- Spreading the dough: The easiest and most effective way to spread the sticky cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan is often with the palm of your hand. You can lightly flour your hands or spray them with a little cooking spray to prevent sticking and make the process smoother.
- Dough expansion: When carefully spreading out the cookie dough, it’s a good practice to leave a small amount of space (about half an inch or 1-2 cm) on all sides. This allows for the cookie dough to expand slightly and evenly as it bakes, resulting in perfectly shaped bars and consistent thickness.
- Butter temperature matters: Butter at proper room temperature should be soft to the touch but still firm enough to hold its shape. Avoid placing butter near direct heat sources (like on top of a running dishwasher!) to speed up softening, as this can make it too soft and potentially lead to greasy, flat cookies.
- Precise baking time: This recipe bakes at a higher heat for a shorter duration, which is key to its quick turnaround and chewy texture. Keep a very close eye on the chocolate chip bars as they bake to avoid overcooking. Overbaked cookies tend to lose their delicious chewy texture and can become dry. Look for lightly golden edges and a clean toothpick test for perfect results.
- Chocolate bar substitute: If you find yourself without chocolate chips, don’t let that stop your baking plans! Simply take a chocolate bar of your preferred type (semi-sweet, milk, or dark) and roughly chop it into irregular chocolate chunks. This often creates lovely, melty pockets of chocolate and a more rustic appearance throughout the bars. This trick saved me when I was in The Netherlands and couldn’t find chocolate chips anywhere!
- Thinner, gooier cookies: If your family or personal preference leans towards cookies that are a bit thinner and gooier, you can easily achieve this! Simply reduce the white whole wheat flour to 1 cup (instead of 1 ¼ cups) and then bake for an additional 2 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. This minor adjustment creates a different, yet equally delicious, texture.
- Oat flour option: For a delightful variation that offers an even softer texture and a subtle nutty flavor, you can substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour with oat flour. Oat flour naturally lends a lovely tenderness to baked goods and adds some additional dietary fiber. We enjoy these cookie bars both with and without the oat flour, so feel free to experiment and discover your favorite version!