Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
This Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe is flavorful, rich, and dense. It has nutty, brown butter, and brown sugar and is baked in an 11×15-inch jelly roll pan. You can add nuts, optionally, and sprinkle the tops with a little sea salt for a sweet-salty treat! (8 ingredients, plus 1 optional, vegetarian, and gluten-free option)
Table of contents
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Hi Everyone, these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars have brown butter and brown sugar which both contribute to their delicious, rich flavor – in a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe base.
These bars feed a crowd and make 24 bars per recipe but you can certainly cut them smaller for smaller servings.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars | Recipe Podcast | Episode 2
I did my 2nd recipe podcast episode on this Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars; I hope it gives you more insight when making the recipe.
Check out our first recipe podcast episode on Jalapeño Poppers, here:
Your Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Questions Answered
How does adding brown butter affect baked goods?
Brown butter adds so much depth of flavor to baked goods because the fat solids in the butter are “toasted” in a process before you use it in the baking recipe.
brown butter from our brown butter tutorial
How does adding brown Sugar affect baked goods?
Brown sugar is naturally moister, it adds more moisture to baked goods. It has molasses in it and adds more robust flavor and makes recipes softer. It also keeps the baked goods moist longer after they are baked.
Visually, baked goods look darker (more brown) when they have brown sugar in them too.
I have two brown sugar recipe tutorials here below (linked below) – it is surprisingly easy to make your own brown sugar, you might never look back!:
Ingredients
- unsalted butter for greasing the pan
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted brown butter, *when you make brown butter, some moisture gets lost during the process, so you will want to make extra, just in case
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, see notes on a gluten-free option
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon 100% pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chip morsels *dark, semi-sweet, milk, or white chocolate or any combination as long as it adds up to 2 cups), plus extra for putting on the top
- Optional: 1 cup nuts or dried fruit, like raisins
Kitchen Tools
Here are the kitchen tools that I use for this recipe:
(All kitchen tools are linked (affiliate #commissionearned) in the recipe card at the end of the post.)
- 11×15-inch rimmed jelly roll pan
- parchment paper (optional)
- measuring spoons and cups
- 2-cup wet measure (for the brown butter)
- a dough scraper, for dividing into bars
- silicone baking spatula and offset spatula – for evening out the dough into the pan
- stand mixer with paddle attachment
- a trivet or hot plate – to place the pan after baking, for cooling the bars
Web Story
Recipe Notes
- Measuring the Flour: I use the “scoop and then level off with a butter knife,” also called the “scoop and sweep”, method of measuring flour in baking recipes and in this recipe and always do unless a specific weight is called for, then I use a kitchen scale.
- On Using Melted, Softened, Room Temperature, or Cold (unsalted) Butter in this recipe: Using different temperatures of (unsalted) butter can yield different results in baking recipes and certainly in this recipe depending on what you are going for. I have found that either room temperature or chilled butter will yield better results in terms of texture than softened or melted butter. I have tried both with this recipe and I prefer the chilled butter, however, both will make a yummy cookie bar 🙂
- Gluten-Free Option: To make this a gluten-free recipe, just substitute the all-purpose flour with a 1 to 1 gluten-free flour, I suggest “Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1” brand as I have had good results with it.
- Storage: Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. You can freeze them, wrapped well and air-tight) for up to 6 months but I recommend up to 3 months.
How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
I included step-by-step photos (below) of the various steps to make this recipe to help you as you make it.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease (using unsalted butter) a 11×15-inch rimmed jelly roll pan or line with parchment paper. Home Chef Tip: If you use parchment paper, crinkle it up into a ball and then smooth it into the shape of the pan, when it’s crinkled up, it conforms to the pan better!
homemade dark brown sugar the flour mixture
3. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the unsalted brown butter, and brown sugar, and cream together, on low to medium speed.
dark brown sugar and brown butter (you can use softened or room temperature) the dark brown sugar and brown butter all creamed together
Please note: The brown butter in the recipe process photos, in this post, appears more “softened”, the temperature of the butter matters a little less because this recipe is baked in a jelly roll pan versus if you made this recipe into cookies where the spread of the cookies would matter more (if making these as cookies, I advise using “room temperature” butter). In my TikTok videos (parts 1 & 2), I show the recipe made with chilled butter, to show the difference.
the dark brown sugar and brown butter all creamed together adding the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture (if you use chilled butter, add one egg at a time to incorporate it more gradually)
4. Add the pure vanilla extract and the 2 large eggs to the butter-sugar mixture (if you use chilled butter, add one egg at a time to incorporate it more gradually), combine them completely on low-medium speed.
5. In a medium-large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and whisk it together until the ingredients are combined.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture, 1/4-1/2 cup at a time to the sugar-egg batter, until it’s fully incorporated, at low to medium speed.
add the chocolate chip morsels to the cookie batter the chocolate chip morsels all mixed into the batter
7. Add in the chocolate chips, at a slow speed, 1 cup at a time, at a slow speed, until just combined. Add in optional nuts or fruit and also combine at a slow speed, until just combined.
adding the cookie batter to the pre-greased 11×15-inch jelly roll pan Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars all baked!
8. Turn the completed batter out onto the prepped jelly roll, spread evenly using baking and/or offset spatula. Add extra chocolate chips on the top, if you want.
the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars cut up the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are served!
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. When the bars are done, cool on a wire rack or trivet for 5-10 minutes until they are cool enough to slice into 24 bars. Enjoy!
Recipe Attribution
This recipe is inspired by, “Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars,” a recipe here on the blog.
TikTok Recipe Videos
I did a 2-part video series on these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:
Part 1 – Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
If you are on TikTok, follow us at @lifeslittlesweets there!
Part 2 – Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
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(This recipe was photographed on 6/16/2020 and first published on 10/27/2021)
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
This Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars recipe is flavorful, rich, and dense. It has nutty, brown butter, and brown sugar and is baked in an 11×15-inch jelly roll pan. You can add nuts, optionally, and sprinkle the tops with a little sea salt for a sweet-salty treat! Only 8 ingredients, plus 1 optional, vegetarian, and gluten-free option.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter for greasing the pan
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted brown butter
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, see notes on a gluten-free option
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon 100% pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chip morsels *dark, semi-sweet, milk, or white chocolate or any combination as long as it adds up to 2 cups), plus extra for putting on the top
- Optional: 1 cup nuts or dried fruit, like raisins
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease (using unsalted butter) an 11×15-inch rimmed jelly roll pan or line with parchment paper. Home Chef Tip: If you are using parchment paper, crinkle it up into a ball and then smooth it into the shape of the pan, when it’s been crinkled up, it conforms to the pan better!
- Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the unsalted brown butter, and brown sugar, and cream together at low and then medium speed.
- Add the pure vanilla extract and the 2 large eggs to the butter-sugar mixture (if you use chilled butter, add one egg at a time to incorporate it more gradually), combine them completely, at medium speed.
- In a medium-large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and whisk it together until the ingredients are combined.
- Gradually add the flour mixture, 1/4-1/2 cup at a time to the sugar-egg batter, until it’s fully incorporated, at low to medium speed.
- Add in the chocolate chips, 1 cup at a time, at a slow speed, until just combined. Add in optional nuts or fruit and also combine at the slowest speed, until just combined.
- Turn the completed batter out onto the prepped jelly roll, spread evenly using a baking and/or offset spatula. Add extra chocolate chips on the top, if you want.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. (See notes on oven setting)
- When the bars are done, cool on a wire rack or trivet for 5-10 minutes until they are cool enough to slice into 24 bars. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 181Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 154mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 4g
Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best. If you make this recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating – it helps others find the recipe!
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