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Chewy and buttery peanut butter cookie bars with melty chocolate chips!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Eggless)

Chewy and buttery peanut butter cookie bars with melty chocolate chips!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Makes: 16 bars
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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

*Use an unsweetened / mildly sweetened peanut butter if possible, or you may find the bars too sweet. Alternatively, if you only have sweetened peanut butter, reduce the caster sugar by a couple of tablespoons. I used a natural, unprocessed peanut butter here which is more liquidy than a standard processed one. This means there are more oils in it which could make the dough greasy but the final baked bars were just fine. You can go with either kind of peanut butter.
*I haven't tried baking this dough as regular cookies. But if you want to, you will need to chill it for about 30 minutes as it is quite soft with the melted butter and peanut butter and the cookies will spread a lot in the oven. I estimate a 10-minute bake time for soft and chewy cookies.