I know we’re about ready to head into holiday cookie overload season, but before so many cookies are coming your way that you preemptively change into your yoga pants, I thought I’d sneak these babies in.
Michael and I have been experimenting with lots of different vegetables lately. We’ve tried some new methods for greens, acorn squash, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and more. Consequently, we’ve had lots of vegetable-heavy meals that we feel pretty good about and that leave us with the calories to spare for fun treats now and again.
These were delicious! I’m usually not much of a bar cookie person, but I was so intrigued by the recipe, I had to give them a go. These had a delicious texture; they were slightly crisp on the tops and yet tender inside thanks to the cream cheese in the dough. These freeze beautifully. We gave half away, then pulled the rest out a few at a time over the next two weeks, and they were still delicious up to the very (tasty) end.
If you like, you can use Neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese), but I would NOT recommend using fat-free cream cheese. The results will not be the same. Also, feel free to add even more chocolate, if you like (why, hello, yoga pants). Enjoy!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Yield: 24 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2c butter, softened
- 4oz (1/2c) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2c sugar
- 1 1/2c brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2c flour
- 1 1/2tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 (12oz) pkgs. semi-sweet chocolate chips (3 cups)
Instructions
- Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugars 3-4 minutes until well creamed.
- Spray a 9 x 13″ pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment, then spray again. (Alternately, you can butter the pan) Stir in the eggs one at a time, until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla and salt. Add flour, baking soda, and chocolate chips and stir until about half-mixed. The dough will be very thick. At this point, I switched to my hands to finish mixing the flour in.
- Pat the dough into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the center is just set. Let cool in the pan before slicing.
Adapted from Not Without Salt
Oh. My. Yoga pants it is!
Oh my yumminess! And I even have cream cheese in my fridge…good thing I am pregnant and can get away with a few treats!
Yum! These look fantastic! And I love things that freeze well.
Yay! I was just wondering what to make with the kids today (they have no school today or tomorrow, it’s cold, they’re bored, and of course my solution to all those is baked goods!). Thank you!
These look lovely, I’m sure they’re good in yoga pants, jeans or even skirts;)
These bar look really great
I’ve never made chocolate chips cookies with cream cheese = but I like the idea
We made these cookie bars and loved them! We never make anything well and these turned out FANTASTIC!! They are so easy to make and barely take any time! Thanks for the GREAT recipe we will sure be using this in the future!
Lauren and Lulu–I’m so glad! I just made them again last night and just LOVED them all over again.
Hi Emily! These bars look fantastic. Do you slice the cookie bars and freeze them individually? What’s the best method for freezing a bar cookie? Thanks 🙂
Kristin- great question! I’ve always sliced them and put them on a plate or in a plastic container in the freezer. I think you could totally freeze them un-cut if you want, they’ll just take longer to thaw. I find it’s just easier to pre-slice them.
Great, thank you for the tip!
PS – I made these bars yesterday since my in-laws are here this weekend. They were so delicious, receiving rave reviews from everyone!
I stumbled across this recipe months ago and ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM. They are soooooo extremely delicious. They’re gooey, soft, and nothing short of fabulous. This have made their way into my cookie rotation and are here to stay! Have you ever tried making this dough into cookies? I don’t want to mess with something that’s already so good, but I’ve long been curious …
Sarah– I haven’t tried them as cookies yet. I love the bars so much! I do want to try them as cookies, though, so when I do, I’ll let you know!
I also LOVE these! I have a friend who said she tried making cookies and they aren’t as good…
Quick question – I’m running short on time but want to send these to my mom for mother’s day. Have you ever tried making the dough the night before and refrigerating it overnight? I’m think I might not have a choice… I can’t see any harm in it though, right?
I have to say, this is the best chocolate chip cookie bar I’ve ever had! They’re FANTASTIC and everybody raves about them! Along with Martha Stewart’s pecan bars, I’m going to surprise a happy mother in a few days!
Sarah – I think you could make it ahead of time. The dough will dry out a little bit overnight, so you’ll want to cover it as well as possible–possibly pressing it into the pan and then covering the surface with plastic wrap pushed right down onto the surface. I’d love to know how it goes! Oh, and those pecan bars sound divine!