Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate chip cookie bars, thick and chewy, just like the ones in trendy specialty cookie shops can now be made in your own kitchen. Here’s the recipe!

Thanksgiving is over (everyone survived!) and the countdown to Christmas is beginning while I start running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. I have a full month of holiday events ahead of me (who doesn’t?). If I seem scattered in posting through the month of December it may have something to do with this, or the copious amounts of alcohol that always seemed to get purchased this time of year.

Today I started digging out the holiday decorations and actually did a little shopping. That’s right – Black Friday shopping. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, however, I wasn’t looking for a 52″ flat screen TV either. Sure enough, the things I actually needed weren’t on the shelves. Go figure…

Here’s a quick and easy recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookie bars if you need to step away from the leftover pies but still want something sweet.

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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

From Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:

• 2 1/8 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons butter (3/4 cup), melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Mix the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and press the batter out into the prepared pan.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, about 24 minutes.

Cool to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

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When baking things like these chocolate chip cookie bars, I tend to be a little lackadaisical about measuring, so I may have short changed the chocolate chips – or I would have added a lot more. I also will add some chopped walnuts to these next time.

Now, for the rest of the day, no more cooking. 🙂