Description
Sinful peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars melt hearts with rich, indulgent layers of sweet comfort. Chocolate chips nestled in creamy peanut butter dough create irresistible bites you won’t resist savoring until the last crumb.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- ½ cup (115 g / 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (120 g / 4.2 ounces) creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup (200 g / 7 ounces) sugar (¾ cup brown sugar + ¼ cup granulated sugar)
- 1 ¼ cups (160 g / 5.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
Binding and Flavor Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Chocolate and Chip Ingredients:
- 1 cup (180 g / 6.3 ounces) chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
- ½ cup (75 g / 2.6 ounces) peanut butter chips (optional, for extra peanut butter flavor)
Instructions
- Prepare the baking workspace by preheating the oven to 350F (175C) and lining a 9×9-inch pan with parchment paper, ensuring extended edges for simple bar removal.
- Create a smooth base by whisking together melted butter, creamy peanut butter, and both sugar varieties until fully integrated and glossy.
- Incorporate eggs and vanilla extract into the butter mixture, stirring vigorously to achieve a uniform, silky texture.
- Gently fold dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, and salt – into the wet mixture, taking care not to overmix and maintain a soft, cohesive dough.
- Distribute chocolate and peanut butter chips evenly throughout the dough, ensuring a balanced distribution of sweet morsels in every potential bite.
- Transfer the cookie dough into the prepared pan, using a spatula to spread the mixture into an even, smooth layer that reaches all corners.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 22-26 minutes, monitoring until the edges turn golden brown and the center remains slightly soft and yielding.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool within the pan for 15 minutes, which helps set the structure and intensify flavors.
- Lift the bars from the pan using the parchment paper overhang and slice into square portions, revealing the gooey, decadent interior.
Notes
- Customize the sweetness by adjusting the sugar ratio to create a less or more sweet version of these decadent bars.
- Experiment with different types of chocolate chips like dark, milk, or white chocolate to add unique flavor variations.
- For a gluten-free option, swap regular flour with a high-quality gluten-free all-purpose flour blend to maintain the same soft, chewy texture.
- Enhance the nutty flavor by toasting the peanut butter chips briefly in a dry skillet before adding them to the dough, which intensifies their rich, roasted taste.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 295
- Sugar: 21 g
- Sodium: 152 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 35 mg