Well hello there, little world. It has been quite some time since I meandered into this quiet corner, and it feels a little trepidatious and exhilarating at both the same time to dip my toe back into the written word.In the months of my absence, there was quite a bit going on in home life where I did not have the energy to devote to both writing, cooking, shooting photography, and running a full packed household with children running amok. Learning to rebalance energy each day and adapting to be flexible to what had become my everyday routine in both practicality and my creative kitchen was both rewarding and challenging.

Throughout my little life, change has never been something I have been particularly fond of unless I was the one initiating the changes. Making the decision to move across country to California was an easy one as it was a change I incited, while lighting the spark to move from California to gain residency in Arizona for graduate school was a much more heart wrenching, self-improving mission. In the realm of cookiedom, I have always stayed true to my beloved Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies as my favorites, reveling in the crisped edges, heart stompingly delicious chocolaty goo, and little bursts of flake salt. A cookie bar, was vastly inferior in my opinion, as the edges tend to be soft and uncrossed, and I always felt that those cookie bars did not contain the depths of flavor and textures I was accustomed to in a true cookie.

Little by little, event by event, my thoughts regarding the inferiority of cookie bars has morphed as I played around with different techniques to figure out what *my* preferred cookie bar is. I have a love/hate relationship with underbakedd cookie dough - I adore the gooey texture that results from slight undertaking, but loathe the raw quality of the goo as the heat of the oven has not transformed the basic ingredients into a deeper, more complex, magical cookie flavor. Cookie bars are an ingenious invention that I never fully appreciated until this summer, and this recipe is the one that changed my mind.

First, the base cookie dough recipe for this cookie bar is my gold standard for blondie cookie bars. The browned butter adds a nutty, warm richness to the cookie dough base, making your taste buds perk up and hum with contentment. The baked cookie portion is thick, chewy, with a little bit of a crisped edge, especially on the corner pieces. This recipe is flexible enough to adjust the ratios of brown sugar - I prefer using both light and dark brown sugars as it helps enhance the nutty flavors of the browned butter, but it is delicious with straight light brown sugar if that’s all you happen to have. The extra egg yolk is my secret weapon, and keeps the cookie bar both tender and chewy without drying out. The bars end up having a hefty girth, with a good mouthful of varying textures and flavors that scream for an ice cold glass of milk to accompany the treat.

Flecked throughout the cookie dough are delicious little pools of decadent chocolate, and on the top nestle in little crunchy flakes of salt which balances the sweetness and richness of the entire baked good. I love using a blend of three different types of chocolate, but have also used chopped bittersweet chocolate with toffee bits. Essentially, you can play with the mix-ins to your preference of textures and flavors, but I have found that a cup of whatever you end up mixing in yields the best results of “stuff to cookie” ratio. For decorative purposes, you could add up to 2 Tbsp more of whatever chocolate or nuts sprinkled evenly on the top of the cookie dough in the pan to show exactly what you’re going to get inside the cookie, but it isn’t necessary.

These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are a one bowl recipe, and dirty up one skillet and one pan. They are infinitely less time consuming than scooping out a whole slew of cookies when you are in a rush, and literally give you all the chewy, crisped-edges, chocolaty goo deliciousness that cookies give you with less work and attention needed to come together. I highly, highly recommend using the flake sea salt to add that last layer of dimension to keep the cookie bars from being overly sweet, and it also has the bonus of elevating the cookie bars to something akin to what you receive in a bakery. Times change, preferences can shift and embracing new curveballs can lead to a love from traditional cookies to a perfect cookie bar.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 20 bars, one 9x13 pan

These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are incredibly easy to put together, and while you technically can bake them without browning the butter, I highly, highly recommend taking the extra 5-7 minutes to brown it as it really transforms the bars from a “good” cookie bar to a “bakery-style” cookie bar.

I always line the 9x13 pan with Parchment Paper to overhang the edges, as the parchment wings will create an incredible no fuss, easy lift of the whole cookie out of the pan before cutting. Let the baked cookie bars cool for 10 minutes in the pan before lifting them out to cool completely. This allows the bottoms of the cookie bars to continue cooking for a little bit lending to a chewy, rich texture in the middle at the end. Letting them cool completely before cutting into squares will allow you to be able to cut neat, non crumbly cookie bars with minimal mess.

From personal experience, adjusting the sugars will affect the baking time. If you use what the recipe calls for, 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar and 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, the baking time tends to lean towards the 20-23 minute mark. If using all light brown sugar, the baking time tends to lean towards the 23-25 minute mark. Higher amounts of chocolate vs add ins of nuts or toffee bits also can affect the baking time and make it lean towards the longer baking times rather than the shorter.

These cookie bars are best on the day of baking, but will store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I also find they freeze very well for up to 3 months. You could also try baking them in two smaller cast iron skillets and serving warm, with ice cream on top, for a different experience!

Ingredients

12 Ounces Salted Butter, Browned( 1 and 1/2 Sticks, I use Costco Brand)
3/4 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1//2 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Egg + 1 Egg Yolk, room temperature
2 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups + 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Tsp Baking SODA
1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli Brand)
1/4 Cup White Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli Brand)
1/4 Cup Chopped Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli Brand)
Flake Salt, for Sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper so the edges overhang, for easy removal later. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter. It will melt, then start foaming white bubbles pretty vigorously. After about 5-10 minutes, depending on how hot your pan is, the butter will start turning brown and smell incredibly fragrant and nutty. Once it starts browning, lift it off the heat and swirl. Watch carefully/smell carefully once the butter starts browning, it is very easy to burn the butter once it begins to brown. Err on the side of caution and use lower heat rather than higher heat as you brown butter, especially if you are new to the process! Scrape into a large mixing bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
In the bowl with the cooled butter, add in the Light Brown Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar, and Granulated White Sugar. Whisk together until the sugars absorb all the butter. It will be slightly sandy looking/feeling.
Add in the Egg, Egg Yolk and Vanilla. Whisk together until well combined.
Add in the Flour, Baking SODA, and Salt. Whisk until combined and flour is mostly incorporated into the wet ingredients.
Add in the various Chocolate Chips and carefully fold in to the dough using a wooden spoon or spatula. Transfer the dough into the prepared 9x13 pan and evenly spread the dough in the pan. Dough will be thick and stiff.
Sprinkle Flake Salt and gently press additional 2 Tbsp of Chocolate Chips (if using) evenly over the top of the cookie dough. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The top will be puffy and lightly dry to the touch when done. Err on the side of underbred rather than overbooked as it will continue to cook after you remove the pan from the oven.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently lift up the cookie bars by the parchment paper and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into squares only when fully cooled, otherwise you will have raggedy edges from the melted chocolate!
Store for up to 4 days in an airtight container, if they last that long!