Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

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Get ready for these chocolate chip cookie dough bars to become a favorite you make all the time! Perfectly creamy and delicious (and with no raw egg), these bars will get devoured by anyone lucky enough to eat them!

If you love these chocolate chip cookie dough bars, then you must try some of my other favorite chocolate chip recipes! Start with these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, this delicious chocolate chip banana bread and this yummy cookie dough dip!

A stack of chocolate chip cookie dough bars.

A Reader’s Review

Absolutely delicious! Everyone always loves these when I make them. Turn out perfect every single time!
-Kystalyn

Ok. Who is guilty of eating the cookie dough every time you make a batch of cookies? I am pretty guilty of that every single time. The cookie dough is the best part! I figured out a way to get that same delicious, and creamy cookie dough taste in this recipe. The fantastic thing about these bars is that they taste just like cookie dough! And they are egg-less. So they won’t make you sick!

The eggs are substituted with one of my favorite ingredients… sweetened condensed milk. It’s the secret ingredient in these cookie dough bars that give it the best taste and a creamy texture. It takes what you know as cookie dough and brings it up a few notches. Plus, because these are “cookie dough” bars, they don’t require any baking! This recipe is easy and delicious.

The best part about these chocolate chip cookie dough bars is that they taste just like cookie dough but don’t have the raw egg that you worry about eating! Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements!

  • Butter: I used unsalted butter that was softened to room temperature in this recipe.
  • Brown Sugar: Use light brown sugar (packed) to get the best flavor out of these cookie dough bars.
  • Vanilla Extract: Add a splash of vanilla flavoring with this ingredient.
  • Flour: All purpose flour works great in this recipe!
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk: This is the secret ingredient to making these cookie dough bars turn out perfectly creamy and delicious!
  • Mini Chocolate Chips: I use semi-sweet chocolat chips but you could use milk chocolate or dark chocolate if that’s what you prefer.
  • Creamy Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter will mix the best and give the chocolate topping a delicious and smooth texture.
  • Milk Chocolate Chips: These will be melted up and used on the top!
4 pictures showing how to make the dough and press it into a pan to make bars.

This recipe is super simple, and you just need to account for the time it takes for the bars to chill and set up! You will be so glad that you took the time to make these! They are worth the wait.

  1. Line pan: Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
  2. Combine: In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar until it is fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes. Add vanilla until combined.
  3. Mix and fold: Turn the mixer to low and alternate the flour and the sweetened condensed milk until combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Add to pan: Press the cookie dough into the bottom of the 8×8 pan. It will be sticky so lightly flour your hands if needed.
  5. Chill: Cover your bars with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight until firm.
  6. Add topping and chill: To make the topping, combine the peanut butter and ½ cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Stir every 30 seconds until smooth. Pour and spread over the top of the chilled dough and chill at least for 1 hour until firm.
The side view of the chocolate chip cookie dough on parchment paper, ready to be cut.

Variations

Like with baked cookies, you can change up these chocolate chip cookie dough bars to make them your own! Here are a few ideas for you!

  • Mix-ins- You can easily swap out the chocolate chips for another mix-in of your choice! Try some heath bar bites, some mini m&m’s, or even some delicious Reese’s Pieces!
  • Add Oats: If your very favorite cookie dough is oatmeal chocolate chip then try making that with these cookie dough bars! Try using ½ cup of flour and 2 cups of quick oats instead of the 2 cups of flour. YUM!
  • Topping: Sprinkle on some course sea salt on your melted chocolate topping before it sets. This adds a delicious savory flavor to go along with the sweet cookie dough taste.
The top view of chocolate chip cookie dough bars.

How to Freeze for Later

You can make some extra of these chocolate chip cookie dough bars and freeze them for later! Then you can have them on hand whenever you want. Place any extras in an airtight container and label it with the date. Put it in the freezer and they will last about 2-3 months. When you are ready to eat them then take them out and let them thaw in the fridge.

A stack of cookie dough bars, the top one has a bit taken out of it.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

5 from 4 votes
Get ready for these chocolate chip cookie dough bars to become a favorite you make all the time! Perfectly creamy and delicious (and with no raw egg), these bars will get devoured by anyone lucky enough to eat them!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Author Alyssa Rivers
Servings: 16 Bars

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter softened
  • 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar packed
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk 14 oz.
  • 2 cups Mini Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips

Instructions
 

  • Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar until it is fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and bet until combined.
  • Turn the mixer to low and alternate the flour and the sweetened condensed milk until combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
  • Press the cookie dough into the bottom of the 8×8 pan. It will be sticky so lightly flour your hands if needed.
  • Cover your bars with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight until firm.
  • To make the topping, combine the peanut butter and ½ cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Stir every 30 seconds until smooth. Pour and spread over the top of the chilled dough and chill at least for 1 hour until firm.

Video

Notes

Originally Posted September 1, 2019
Updated on May 20, 2022

Nutrition

Serves: 16

Calories417kcal (21%)Carbohydrates57g (19%)Protein7g (14%)Fat19g (29%)Saturated Fat10g (50%)Polyunsaturated Fat1gMonounsaturated Fat4gTrans Fat1gCholesterol28mg (9%)Sodium89mg (4%)Potassium170mg (5%)Fiber2g (8%)Sugar42g (47%)Vitamin A306IU (6%)Vitamin C1mg (1%)Calcium120mg (12%)Iron1mg (6%)

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword bar recipes, chocolate chip cookie dough bar, cookie dough bars
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic

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Alyssa Rivers

I am Alyssa and the blogger behind The Recipe Critic. I started my blog in June of 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family.

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  1. I’m allergic to nuts and can’t use peanut butter. Would yiu think cream cheese could be a good substitute? If not any suggestions? Thanks!

      1. Dry Ingredients:

        All-Purpose Flour: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz
        Bread Flour: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz
        Whole Wheat Flour: 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz
        Cake Flour: 1 cup = 4 oz
        Pastry Flour: 1 cup = 4 oz
        White Granulated Sugar: 1 cup = 7 oz
        Brown Sugar: 1 cup = 7 1/2 oz
        Powdered Sugar: 1 cup = 4 oz
        Chopped Nuts: 1 cup = 4 oz

        Liquid Ingredients:

        Most liquids: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Water: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Milk: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Cream: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Yogurt: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Sour Cream: 1 cup = 8 oz
        Honey: 1 cup = 12 oz
        Oil: 1 cup = 7.5 oz
        Butter: 1 cup = 8 oz

        For those who prefer grams: 1 ounce = about 28 grams

  2. looks amazingly yummy!
    i don’t have a microwave. any other way to do the topping?
    also, can i substitute peanut butter with anything else?

  3. I’m actually a huge peanut butter lover and substituted the mini choc chips in the batter for Reese’s pieces (kind of like peanut butter M&Ms) and added a bit more peanut butter to my topping. WOW is all I have to say!! What a guilty pleasure!

  4. Times like this I really wanna just take raw flour and eggs and eat them right in front of the nay sayers. Like seriously how often is the news interrupted by a special re[ort of a raw egg and flour death outbreak lol c’mon. can it make you sick? Yes. But aside from the “facts” I look at all of our past experiences and see that the only thing that has come from eating it is happiness lol
    GEAT RECIPE BTW, ALTHOUGH SOMETHING I DID CAUSED IT TO BE A LITTLE TOO THIN AND NOT HARDEN QUITE ENOUGH. STILL TASTES AWESOME THOUGH 🙂

  5. I made these last night! They are so good. My friend is vegan so I had to make my own condensed milk. I used 3 3/4 almond milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla. I simmered on low heat for about 2 hours. This made a little less than 2 cups of milk. I then put it in the fridge for about 4 hours before i used it, this made it really thick. I used earth balance original butter and enjoy life chocolate chips. I also only had dark brown sugar and that worked fine. 🙂 thanks for the great recipe! I love it!

  6. We froze ours, sets up great then 🙂 Kids and I love this recipe…going to try different chips next time and maybe a little oatmeal or m and m’s to make them like monster bars.

  7. I followed the directions to the letter and ended up with gooey batter that stuck to the parchment paper. 🙁 The bars set up in the fridge for two days, but they didn’t harden.

    It does taste wonderful, so I’m serving it as cookie dough dip with some chocolate Teddy Grahams.

  8. I made these last night without any issues. I followed the recipe. I did pop them in the freezer for about 20 minutes to hurry things along, but after maybe 2 hours they were pretty solid, so I poured on the topping.
    These are delicious, but very, very decadent. I might cut back the topping a touch next time (say 1/3 of cup of each instead).

  9. I don’t like milk chocolate and I wouldn’t want to mix peanut butter taste with the Chocolate Chip cookie dough so I will make them with melted semi-sweet chocolate (in the micro) with a little butter to smooth it.

  10. Why don’t you add any nutritional values to your recipes? some people like to know how much calories there is per meal/ portion, after all not all of us or obese Americans.

    1. Im sorry. Maybe this is something I can do in the future. I am also not an obese american, everything in moderation. 🙂

  11. I melted Trader Joe’s mini peanut butter cups and used it as my spread. The top layer turned out amazing even though my bars didn’t set.

  12. Is it just me or do the bars in your photo have walnuts in them? It looks like it, but I don’t see them listed in the recipe….

  13. These are incredibly easy and really amazing. I didn’t line the pan with anything and they came out without a problem. I will make these again without a doubt.

  14. You mentioned that the sweetened condensed milk was a substitute for eggs. I have a dairy allergy, so would I be able to replace the milk with eggs?

  15. I tried this and they failed horribly! I used sweetened condensed milk, so it wasn’t that I used the wrong kind. I followed this recipe to a T! They never set up, and I even put them outside in the garage, where it was 3 degrees all night! I woke up to cookie dough mush. 🙁

    1. Hmmm sorry that happened! That shouldn’t have happened. Once I took mine our of the fridge they had to sit for a while before I could even cut them.

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