Pat’s Chocolate Chip Bars

I call these Pat’s Chocolate Chip Bars because the person kind enough to share the recipe was a very talented cook named Pat. I’d been looking for recipes to send to the troops, and Pat said her bars were perfect for that because they ship well and stay fresh.  The recipe came through on both counts, and I’ve been using it ever since.

Unfortunately, I never updated the photos until now. I also have to admit that for many years I was making the bars a little thinner than Pat’s original. Pat’s recipe calls for a 15×10 inch pan, and I usually halved the recipe and used a 9×13 inch pan. A half batch of a 15×10 inch pan should be around 9 inch square or my new favorite size, 7×11. So if you make the full recipe, be prepared for a gigantic batch of bars. If you halve it, go with the 9 inch or 7×11 inch.

More About Pat’s Chocolate Chip Bars

As mentioned, they’re thick. They puff up a lot in the oven and will be cakey at first, but like so many delicious type of bars they sink a little, become denser and develop what I think is a much better texture after cooling.

I’ve mostly remained true to Pat’s recipe, but I hardly ever have salted butter so I usually use unsalted and about 1 teaspoon of salt. I’ve also started using this trick I learned on Twitter which is to rub the bottom of the lined pan with coconut oil and sprinkle it sparsely with the best salt you have. This adds just enough salt to enhance the sweet. It’s absolutely not necessary, but if you love sweet & salty then it sort of is.

Recipe

Pat’s Chocolate Chip Bars

Anna

An easy recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars baked in a 10×15 inch pan. If you use that size pan, the bars will be thick! You could go with a slightly larger pan for thinner bars. If you want to halve the recipe, you can use a 9 inch pan for thick bars or a 13×9 inch pan for thin bars.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Cooling 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 36

Ingredients

 

• 8 oz salted butter, softened 230 grams
• 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar 250 grams
• 1 cup brown sugar 200 gram
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 ½ cups all purpose flour (Spoon and level) 440 grams
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt or 1 teaspoon if using unsalted butter
• 2 12 oz packages (670 grams) of semi-sweet chocolate chips (don’t cut back)
• 2 cups 220 grams chopped pecans (optional)
• ½ cup M&Ms baking bits optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch pan with parchment paper and grease parchment.
• With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time (without whipping, just beat), then beat in the vanilla.
• Combine the dry ingredients and blend in. Add chips and nuts. Spread in the pan and bake at 350F (176 C) for 20 to 30 minutes. Pat’s recipe said 20 minutes, but the bars will most likely take a little longer.
• Let cool completely, then cut into bars.

Notes

Pat’s Note:
have had this recipe for over 35 years, and have no clue as to where it came from. You can also do the drop way, but I am so lazy, this works better for me. When I shipped them, I lined a trash bag box with foil (heavy duty) and then wrapped the box in foil again. . They stacked nicely

Keyword Chocolate Chip Bars

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