Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These small batch chocolate chip cookie bars are soft, chewy and loaded with chocolate chips. Baked in a loaf pan, they’re the perfect dessert when you only need a few cookies.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings bars

Calories 447kcal

Author Leigh Anne Wilkes

Equipment

Ingredients

1/4` cup butter softened, salted
1/4 cup granulated sugar`
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg large
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose, unbleached flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F>
Line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly grease.
In a bowl, cream together softened butter and sugars, either by hand or with an electric hand mixer. Mix until light and fluffy.
Add in egg and vanilla extract, beat to combine.
Add in dry ingredients, flour, salt and baking soda. Mix just until combined.
Spread batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and set in the middle. Do not overbake.
Allow to cool and then enjoy!

Notes

Don’t overmix. Once you add the flour, mix just until everything is combined. Overmixing can make your cookie bars tougher instead of soft and chewy.
Line your loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave a little parchment hanging over the sides of the pan. This makes it easy to lift the bars right out of the pan for slicing. You can check out my video for how to cut a parchment sling here.
Don’t overbake. This is the secret to a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bar! The edges should be lightly golden and the center should look set but still soft. Remember, the bars will continue to bake a little as they cool.
Add a few extra chocolate chips on top. After spreading the dough into the pan, press a few additional chocolate chips into the top. It makes the finished bars look even better—and there’s no such thing as too much chocolate!
Let them cool before slicing. I know it’s hard to wait, but the bars will slice much more cleanly if you give them a chance to cool and set up first. Of course, if you don’t care what they look like, a warm cookie bar with melty chocolate is pretty hard to beat!
Use a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. The smaller pan gives you nice, thick cookie bars without making a whole pan of them. It’s one of my favorite ways to make a small batch dessert.

Nutrition