Large Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Hey there, friends. Summer has officially begun! Let the crazy/good times begin. 🙂 If you are a parent and have school aged kids that are now home for the summer, you and I understand that this is one wild time of year, am I right? It always takes me a couple of weeks to get into the summertime groove. I read a super funny article today about summertime and child rearing. You can see it HERE. It will make you smile. 🙂

Not only does summer time come with an abundance of children (and heat!), but it seems we are always headed to some fun gathering where treats are needed. In an effort to save time in the kitchen (and heat in my oven) I tweaked my standard Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar recipe just a bit and made it into a large batch recipe, made in a sheet pan that will yield 35 large bars, or 70 small ones. That is something to smile about, yes? You can add any kind of chocolate chips…milk chocolate, semi sweet, butterscotch, peanut butter or any combination you enjoy. I opted to use milk chocolate chips and m and m’s. Mostly because color is fun. And fun is good.

Hope some of you get a chance to try them! Take them camping or to the pool. Pack them along to your family reunion or to girls camp. They make a great, easy treat.

Let me show you how to make them happen!

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place 1 1/2 C butter into a large glass bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave.

3. Add 2 C brown sugar and 1 C white sugar and stir to combine. Then add 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks and 4 tsp vanilla. Whisk it together until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl combine 4 1/4 C flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda.

4. Stir the dry mixture into the sugar mixture. Don’t mix it in all the way. The trick to making these bars nice and soft on the inside is not to over mix and not to over bake. So, at this stage…leave a bit of the flour showing. It will incorporate nicely for you as you stir in the chocolate.

5. Add 2 C milk chocolate chips and 2 C of M and M’s (almost all of a medium sized bag). You can use any kind of chocolate chips.

6. Stir the chocolate in to combine.

7. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray (mine is 12 x 17). Press the dough evenly into the pan.
8. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the outside is slightly golden. You want to be sure not to over bake. They are much better if the inside is nice and soft.

9. Allow them to cool for about 10 minutes then slice into bars and enjoy!

Here’s the handy printable…