Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, from Cook's Illustrated

By Foodiewife

This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated (May 2006). These are super fast to make-- you can do it all by hand. The beauty of this recipe is that you melt the butter. The end result-- buttery, sweet chocolate chip cookies in a bar. These are perfect for lunch boxes, but you might need to hide them. They disappear fast!

Ingredients

• NOTE:
• 2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (10 1/2-ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2-sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup light brown sugar (7-ounces)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2-ounces)
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)
• You can substitute white, milk chocolate, or peanut butter chips for the semi- or bittersweet chips called for in the recipe. In addition to chips, you can flavor the dough with 1 cup of nuts, raisins

Preparation

Step 1

Heat oven to 325°F. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position.

Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 X 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges.

Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk melted butter and sugars in medium large bowl until combined. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not over mix. Fold in chips and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with spatula.

Bake until top is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 27 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.