In honor of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, which is Sunday, May 15, I give you this: The. Very. Best. Salty. Chocolate. Chunk. Bar. Cookie. Recipe. Ever. I mean, EVER! It’s my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, hands-down.
Grab some really good chocolate chips and/or chunks, the best you can buy. And some coarse sea salt. And, you know, the butter and flour and sugar and stuff.
C’mon, these are bar cookies! They don’t even require effort. Make a batch, already!
salty chocolate chunk bar cookie recipe
makes about 30 bars
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (see Note)
1/2 cup chocolate chunks, divided
1/2 cup good quality toasted unsalted pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon good-quality flaky sea salt (like Maldon)
Note: Use a combination of dark, milk or semi-sweet chocolate in this recipe. I like Barry Callebaut chocolate chunks from King Arthur Flour; if you don't have chocolate chunks on hand, just use 1 cup of chocolate chips, reserving 1/4 cup for topping as directed below.
Preheat oven to 375°. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a bowl and hand-held mixer), cream the butter until it's smooth; add the sugar and cream together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla extract. Add flour and table salt, mix gently to combine thoroughly. Add chocolate chips, 1/4 cup chocolate chunks and chopped pecans; mix to combine—the dough will be more crumbly than your typical cookie dough.
Line a rimmed 12-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Place a plastic baggie over your hand (to prevent sticking) and use that to press the crumbly dough evenly into the paper-lined pan. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chunks over the dough and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of flaky sea salt. Bake for 25–28 minutes, or until cookies are nicely browned and pulling away from the pan slightly. Cool for about 30 minutes, then use the parchment paper to carefully lift the cookie out of the pan and cut into squares. (These cookies get crispy like shortbread, and cutting them after they're fully at room temperature is messy; better to cut them when they're just slightly warm.)
