Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Name: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 43 min
Ingredients: 1/3 cup vegan butter ((melted)); 1/3 cup vegan cane sugar; ½ cup brown sugar ((packed)); 1 teaspoon vanilla; 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk ((I use SILK unsweetened almond)); 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour; 1/8 teaspoon sea salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 2/3 cup vegan chocolate chips ((I use Enjoy Life or Tollhouse brand))

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These Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are vegan and chewy, loaded with chocolate chips and sprinkled with sea salt.

Close up side view of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

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Why you will love this recipe
Ingredients
Variations
How to make these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
More Cookie Recipes
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Why you will love this recipe

Perfect Soft Chewy Texture: These easy vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are sweet, chewy and soft with chocolate chips added in to make the tastiest cookie bar.
Quick and Easy: These homemade Chocolate Chip Bars only have 9 ingredients that get mixed together, than you bake the bars and you’ve got a tasty dessert with chocolate chips.
Less Mess: This recipe is a quick and easy clean up, there’s 2 bowls, a whisk/spoon and a knife to cut the bars and your clean up is done.
Vegan: These are my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars they're also vegan but non-vegans would never even know. It's the perfect dessert bar for all occasions.
Perfect dessert: These soft, sweet and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars are a perfect dessert with a glass of homemade oat milk or almond milk or maybe a warm bar with a scoop of non dairy ice cream.

If you love chocolate chips cookies check out my Chocolate Chunk Coconut Oat Cookies, Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, Edible Cookie Dough or my seasonal Vegan Snickerdoodle Cookies, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and Vegan Ginger Cookies I know you will love them all!

Ingredients

For quantities and full directions take a look at the recipe card below for these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Small glass bowls sitting on marble table with ingredient to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Flour: I like organic unbleached all purpose flour for this recipe to keep it traditional.
Melted Butter: For this recipe I used Miyokos butter and it needs to be melted (not softened).
White and Brown Sugar: Both sugars are needed for this recipe to give it the perfect soft and chewy texture.
Vegan Chocolate Chips: I like Enjoy Life brand or Tollhouse vegan chocolate chips. I also used mini chips but feel free to use regular size or even chocolate chunks if you desire.

Variations

Chopped nuts: If you’d like a little crunch added to these cookie bars grab some chopped nuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, or whatever you’d like.
Dip the Side: First melt the vegan chocolate chips in the microwave (15 seconds at a time stirring) grab the bar and dip half of the full bar in the chocolate, (I like to dip at an angle) set the bar on a drying rack or on a cookie sheet that's been lined with parchment paper. Yes taste and texture will change a little creating a more chocolaty sweetness. It not only adds chocolate but also makes the bar look a little "up scale". You could also use vegan white chocolate chips if you’d like. If you do this I would probably leave the chocolate chips out of the dough and just use chocolate to dip a chipless cookie bar in the chocolate.

Prep: Pre heat the oven to 370° F and line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Start by measuring the butter using the dry cup method (see notes below in recipe card) and place in the microwave to melt. 10 second intervals.

Glass bowl with whisk and wet ingrdients.

Step 1: Add the white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and milk and whisk together.

Step 2: In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and whisk together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk or spoon until well combined.

Step 3: Fold in the chocolate chips. (reserve a small handful for the top)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Dough!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars in lined baking dish ready to be baked.

Step 4: Pour into the lined baking pan and spread evenly, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and place in the oven for 23 minutes.

Freshly bakes Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars in a baking pan.

Step 5: Once done baking, remove from the oven and sprinkle with flakey sea salt if desired and let cool 15 minutes. Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, re-heat in the microwave if desired.

Expert Tips

Cool the bars: Let the cookie bars cool before eating, as they cool the bars set and firm up a little and the chocolate chips cool a little also.
Storing: You can store these vegan chocolate chip cookies in a sealed container on the counter for 3 days. If you’ve got any left at 3 days I’d store them in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Butter: I used Miyokos brand butter but feel free to use Earth Balance or other comparable vegan butters as well. I also use the “dry cup” method of measuring if you don’t have a full stick to cut on the ½ cup line. The dry method means you simple use a dry measuring cup and pack the butter in there firmly and level it off. You can also use a scale and measure in grams if you have one.

Recipe FAQs

Can you put any chocolate in bars or cookies?

For the best tasting bars and cookies I’d stay with semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips. Or the equivalent of a chocolate bar chopped up into chunks.

Can you use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips in cookies?

In most recipes you can use a normal eating chocolate bar in place of the chocolate chips. There may be a lot more sugar in that chocolate bar which will make the cookie or bars much more sweet.

Which chocolate is best for cookies bars?

Personal taste will affect your choice for the chocolate you use. Generally it’s said to use either semisweet or bittersweet chocolate when baking. In this recipe I did use vegan semi-sweet mini chocolate chips.

Can you use old chocolate chips for cookies?

That depends on how old and if package has been opened. Expired chocolates flavor will be weak, but it can last for a little while maybe a couple months after the packages expiration date, if there’s no distasteful smell/flavor, if there’s no mold growing on it and no smell/odor.

Macro shot of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, chocolate chips with flakey sea salt sprinkled on top.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars overhead picture, cut into 9 slices.

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These Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are vegan and chewy, loaded with chocolate chips and sprinkled with sea salt.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 23

Cooling:: 15

Total Time: 43

Servings:

Calories: 282kcal

Author: Michele

Ingredients

WET INGREDIENTS:

▢ ⅓ cup vegan butter (melted)
▢ ⅓ cup vegan cane sugar
▢ ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
▢ 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk (I use SILK unsweetened almond)
▢ 1 ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
▢ ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
▢ ⅔ cup vegan chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life or Tollhouse brand)

Topping: Flakey sea salt (optional - after being baked sprinkle some on top)

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 370° F and line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.
Start by measuring the butter using the dry cup method (see notes below) and place in the microwave to melt. 10 second intervals.
Add the white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and milk and whisk together.
In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and whisk together.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk or spoon until well combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips. (reserve a small handful for the top)
Pour into the lined baking pan and spread evenly, sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and place in the oven for 23 minutes.
Once done baking, remove from the oven and sprinkle with flakey sea salt if desired and let cool 15 minutes. Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, re-heat in the microwave if desired.

Video

Notes

Room temperature oat milk: If you are using a butter like Miyokos which has coconut oil in it make sure the plant milk is room temperature, if you mix cold milk with softened or melted coconut oil it will harden the oil.

Plant Milk: I used oat milk but any plant milk will work for this oat cookie recipe cashew, soy, oat, coconut. (coconut will most likely alter the flavor slightly)

Butter: I have used Miyokos vegan butter and I have used Earth Balance butter, I prefer the Miyokos because the cookie bars came out with a better texture but either one really does work fine.

Salt: I topped mine with flakey sea salt but that's optional.

Measuring sugar: To measure white sugar use a dry measuring cup, scoop it into the bag and level it off using the back of a butter knife.

Measuring brown sugar: To measure brown sugar use a dry measuring cup, scoop it into the back and pack it firmly into the cup.

Measuring the butter: If you do not have a full stick of butter with measuring lines on it, I use the "dry cup method" for measuring the butter, scoop the butter into a dry measuring cup and level it off. I also recommend using a kitchen scale if you have one.

Measuring flour: To measure flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and use a butter knife to level it off gently. Avoid packing the flour this will result in way too much flour being used.

Storing: Placing baked goods in a sealed container is usually the best way, if it’s a cookie you can also add a piece of plain white bread to help the cookies stay soft and moist. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread so that’s why it’s important that the bread is plain white so the cookies don’t take on the flavor of the bread.