Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chewy as chewy goes are these delicious Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.  What’s more, they are so incredibly easy to make.  In fact, they’ve been such a hit I had to make them a couple of times over the past weeks simply because each batch disappeared just as quickly as I could make them.

You don’t even need a mixer to make these chewy butterscotch chocolate chip cookie bars.

I include two variations to decorate these cookie bars.  These are entirely optional variations, for the sake of presentation, as the basic recipe itself is already delicious.

The melted butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips and just a tiny hint of cinnamon create a wonderful medley of flavors.  I find the pinch of cinnamon adds a bit of interest.  It’s an underlying flavor you can’t exactly put a finger on if you’re not aware it was added.  It’s as if you take one yummy bite and go, hmmm… what is that?

Here are the simple steps to making the basic, yet very delicious, version.  The detailed recipe is in the printable recipe box at the very bottom of this post.

1. Melt ½ cup unsalted butter in a medium sauce pot on medium heat.
2. Add 2 cups packed dark brown sugar.  Mixture will have the texture of wet sand at first.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted, about 3 – 4 minutes.  The texture will be smooth, glossy and thick.  Remove the pot from the heat to bring to lukewarm, stirring.
4. Switch to a wire whisk and add two eggs one at a time, whisking well.  Be sure the mixture has cooled down so the eggs don’t scramble.
5. Next add the dry ingredients, 1 ½ cups of all purpose-flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Whisk well.
6. Switch to a rubber spatula to mix in 1 cup diced walnuts.
7. Add ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Mix well.
8. Pour cookie batter in a 9” x 13” cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle some chocolate chips on the surface.  Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F for about 20 minutes.
9. Let cool in cookie sheet, cut into bars and enjoy!

If you want to dress up the cookie bars a bit here’s the first variation, which happens to be my favorite.  I call it Chocolate Drop, since basically you melt ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix it with 1 cup of the cookie batter to make a chocolate cookie dough.  You can simply pinch off rough clumps of the chocolate dough and drop it on the surface of the cookie batter.  The bar cookies will come out beautifully enticing in a rustic kind of way.   It was night when I made them so I couldn’t take pictures and there were hardly any left the next morning.  Or you can flatten the chocolate dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, just as I show here.

Depending on how large you slice them you’ll get about 32 delicious cookie bars.  You can even slice them further into bite size pieces for portion control.  At least you can try– to control that is.

You can make these cookie bars for Father’s Day and serve it with a cup of coffee.  He will love it.

Here’s the second variation.  Just melt ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and pour it into a Ziploc or piping bag, make a tiny snip and drizzle the chocolate on the cookie batter.  I piped parallel lines and dragged a toothpick over the lines to make these patterns.

Here’s the chocolate decorated version out of the oven.

I also made delicious cookie bars made with dates in this earlier post.  I can’t decide which of the two I like more.

These bar cookies will have a shiny, crackly surface and the texture will always come out chewy.

Have a couple of these chewy butterscotch chocolate chip cookie bars with a cold glass of milk and you’re set.

Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

 

Author:

SugaryWinzy

Recipe type: Cookies

Serves: Yields about 32 cookie bars

Prep time: 20 mins

Bake / Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Print

 

Fantastically delicious and easy to make are these chewy butterscotch chocolate chip cookie bars!

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter / 1 stick (113 g)
• 2 cups dark brown sugar packed (300 g)
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (195 g)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup diced walnuts (112 g)
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (73 g) + few tablespoons for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Options:

Variation 1 – Chocolate Drop Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:

• Add ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted (2.5 ounces / 73 g) to 1 cup of the butterscotch cookie batter, OR

Variation 2: - Chocolate Decorated Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:

• Drizzle ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted (132 g) over the butterscotch cookie batter before baking

Directions

1. Line a 9” x 13” cookie sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sauce pot, melt butter, and then add sugar. Bring to a boil to melt the sugar while stirring with a wooden spoon. Texture will be like wet sand at first, becoming smooth and silky when the sugar melts, about 3 – 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
4. Switch to a wire whisk to add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.
5. Add flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon, whisking well.
6. Switch to a rubber spatula to mix in chopped walnuts, ½ cup chocolate chips and vanilla extract.
7. Pour into cookie sheet. Sprinkle more chocolate chips on surface, if desired.
8. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, cool in cookie sheet then slice into squares.

Variation 1: Chocolate Drop Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:

1. Follow steps 1 – 6 above. Separate about 1 cup of the cookie batter and pour and spread the rest into the prepared cookie sheet.
2. Add ½ cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips to the 1 cup cookie batter. Mixture will turn into a smooth and shiny cookie dough.
3. Pinch rough clumps off of the chocolate cookie dough and drop on the cookie batter to evenly cover the surface, with still the cookie batter underneath showing through. Bake as directed in steps 7 – 9 above.
4. OR roll the chocolate cookie dough between two sheets of waxed paper using a rolling pin, or the palm of your hands. Use different shaped cookie cutters to cut the chocolate dough and lightly press onto the surface of the cookie batter. Bake as directed in step 7 – 9 above.

Variation 2: Chocolate Decorated Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:

1. Follow steps 1 – 7 above.
2. Melt ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate and pour in a squeeze bottle or icing bag. Decorate surface of cookie batter piping patterns with the melted chocolate.
3. Bake as directed in steps 8 – 9 above.

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Chewy Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars