Small-Batch Cookie Bars with Chocolate Chunks

These small-batch cookie bars are flavored with browned butter and filled with chunks of dark chocolate. They are so good and easy to make!

Cookie bars are cookies without the hassle of rolling individual cookie dough balls. This small-batch chocolate chip cookie bars recipe uses a no-chill dough, making it even easier.

It’s the flavor and texture of a chocolate chip cookie and you can be enjoying them in under an hour. The base of this recipe is based on brown butter chocolate chip cookies but made smaller. Cookie bars made with brown butter have so much more flavor than those made with regular butter.

A small batch of cookies is perfect if you want enough to curb a craving. This small-batch cookie bar recipe makes 6 slices, baked in a standard loaf pan.

For a full-batch, try these M&M cookie bars!

Brown butter

Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette is simply butter that has melted, and then cooked a step further so that the milk solids in the butter caramelize. This gives a caramel-like flavor to the butter.

The depth of flavor in the butter depends on how much it is left to caramelize. Too little and the flavor will be too mild to make a noticeable difference in the cookie dough.

Too much and you run the risk of burning the milk solids and cooking off too much liquid which can ruin the dough structure. Simmer melted butter until the milk solids in the butter have caramelized into a golden amber color and the butter smells nutty.

The ingredients

The exact amounts are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a run-down. For these cookie bars, you will need –

• Butter – Unsalted or salted butter can be used.
• Brown sugar – this helps keep the cookie moist.
• Granulated sugar – adds a little crispiness.
• Half a teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
• Egg yolk – just the yolk, to bring some structure to the dough.
• Milk – just a little to help bind the dough.
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Chocolate – Roughly chop a bar of dark chocolate, around 90g for this small batch chocolate cookie recipe. This recipe is using a chocolate bar with 72% cocoa solids. Alternatively, use semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Salt – including a little flaky salt to finish the baked cookies.

The method

The butter

Begin by browning the butter as that needs a little time to cool.

Let the butter melt in a small metal saucepan. Once melted, let it cook further for around 2-3 minutes until the milk solids have caramelized and the butter smells nutty. Pour the browned butter into a mixing bowl and allow it to cool down for 5-10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

The dough

Once cooled, add in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla extract and beat it together.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Tip the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir them into a thick dough.

Chop the chocolate into chunks and add it to the dough, but hold back a few chunks to press into the cookie bar later.

Line a standard loaf tin with parchment paper and tip in the cookie dough.

Use a spatula to press the dough down and smooth it out. Press the remaining chunks of chocolate into the dough.

Baking

Bake the cookie bars for around 16-18 minutes until the top is set and golden brown and the edges are deeply browned. The middle of the cookie bar will still be a bit soft.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with flaky salt.

Let the cookie cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing and slicing.

The cookies will be quite soft while still warm but they will firm up as they cool.

Storing

The cookie bars will store, covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. The dough can also be frozen for future cookies.

Press it into the loaf tin and freeze until stiff. Remove it from the tin and wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, place the frozen cookie slab into a lined loaf tin. It can be baked from frozen but may need an extra minute or two of baking time.

Related recipes

• Swirled Biscoff cookies
• Chocolate chip cookies without browned sugar
• Small-batch peanut butter cookies

For a full-size batch of cookie bars, try these mini egg cookie bars!

Measurements

This recipe is written using grams as the main measurement.

If you don’t have a scale US* cup equivalents are also included, however, using a kitchen scale to measure grams will give the best and most consistent results.*US cup sizes are smaller than metric cup sizes.