My hand mixer broke last week after six years of being a very good friend. I’m so used to it that I went and ordered the same one in a matter of minutes. Till it arrived though, I still wanted to make cookies and this recipe is a one-bowl, no-mixer wonder of the world. On a whim, I decided to turn it into cookie bars with some peanut butter thrown in and lots of chocolate chips.
The result is a pan full of rich, buttery, chewy, dense and gooey cookie bars that are dangerously addictive.
These bars come together very very quickly, there’s no need to chill the dough and in 20 minutes, you can dive in. The butter and peanut butter provide enough fat and moisture in the absence of eggs and milk softens the dough. They are basically perfect!
The tops are crusty and the corners are the best bits! On the inside the bars are tender, soft, moist and so chewy! I actually liked them cold from the fridge much more than at room temperature. The peanut butter flavour seems to intensify and they taste amaaazing!
Gooey chocolate chips are in every bite and if you wanted to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on one of these bars…well….you’re a genius! These would also be great as a skillet cookie by the way!
Make a batch today!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Eggless)
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 4 tbsps all-purpose flour (280 gms)
- 1 and 1/4 tsps baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 150 gms unsalted butter at room temp
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (100 gms)
- 1/4 cup caster sugar (50 gms)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (135 gms, see notes)
- 4 tbsps whole milk
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 C and line an 8" square baking pan with non-stick (or lightly greased) baking paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal.
- In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter, taking care not let it get too hot. If a few lumps remain, stir to melt them completely rather than overheat the mixture.
- Add the sugars. Stir very well to combine.
- Stir in the vanilla and peanut butter, mixing till combined. I prefer a silicone spatula to stir.
- Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl. Fold gently to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Finally fold in the chocolate chips, making sure they are evenly dispersed. The dough is quite thick so use some arm muscle here. Stir in the milk one tablespoon at a time to make it easier to mix the dough. You may not need all four tablespoons.
- Tip the dough into the prepared pan and press it down firmly and evenly. The dough will look and feel a little greasy because of the melted butter, but it will bake up just fine.
- Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top and drizzle a tablespoon of peanut butter as well, for extra flavour. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned on top. The bars will firm up as they cool so don't worry if they seem a little puffy on the top. Over baking them will make them drier, though if you prefer them that way, go for it!
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before lifting them out using the paper overhang and slicing into 16 pieces with a long, sharp knife. Because they are quite soft and gooey, I prefer to store them in the fridge in an airtight container. They will keep for a week to 10 days. Happy baking!
Notes
Shop this recipe!
This post contains affiliate links.
Pingback: Funfetti White Chocolate Pecan Cookie Bars
Pingback: Chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hi!
I just made this and it just came out of the oven, it smells amazing and I cannot wait to try it! I changed some things around – I used crunchy peanutbutter and also used Biscoff to top it off. Just one question though – I see that in your ingredients list, you listed 4 tbsps whole milk, but I can’t seem to see when to add it in your instructions? Or did I simply miss that? I only realized I didn’t add the milk in right before I wanted to put the dough in the baking pan so I mixed it in then, which should still be okay.
It’s cooling down now and I can’t wait to try it.
Thank you for the recipe!
So sorry about that! I add the milk towards the end, in case the dough feels too stiff to mix so it sounds like you did it absolutely right. I hope you love how they taste 🙂 Biscoff sounds yum!
This looks great! Sorry to read about your hand mixer 🙁
Thank you! Got a new one, no harm done 🙂