Here’s what happens when you combine the delicious forces of soft chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, and peanut butter cups in one pan! These chocolate chip cookie brownie bars are over-the-top in the best way. Definitely bring your sweet tooth to the table.
Some days I like to share healthier recipes with you.
Today is not one of those days. If chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and peanut butter cups are your dream desserts, start preheating your oven now.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars
My husband dreamed up this cookie bar. 6 years ago, after one of his bike races, he said “you should make a chocolate chip cookie layered with peanut butter cups and brownies on top.” Clearly the man was craving chocolate and it didn’t take much convincing for me to bake them. Let’s take a brief moment to reflect on what these insane dessert bars actually are:
- Are they a brownie?
- Are they a cookie?
- A sugar bomb?
- Your dentist’s worst nightmare?
Yes to all of the above. These chocolate chip cookie brownie bars are the ultimate dessert trifecta: chocolate chips cookies + peanut butter cups + brownies. I made the chocolate chip cookie layer and brownie layer from scratch and I highly recommend you do the same!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
The bottom layer is chocolate chip cookie dough. Now I have many chocolate chip cookie recipes including chewy chocolate chip cookies and crispy chocolate chip cookies (and even giant chocolate chip cookies!), but I chose my soft chocolate chip cookies for the base of these brownie cookie bars. They yield a lovely soft and thick cookie “crust”, which is favorable for a thick dessert bar. We wouldn’t really want to sink our teeth into a fudgy brownie, then a hard-as-rock cookie… right? These cookie brownie bars take a long time to bake, so a recipe for SOFT chocolate chip cookies is extra insurance that the entire bar remains on the softer side. Make sense?
Best part of all: no cookie dough chilling!
Once you make the chocolate chip cookie dough, spread it into a lined 9×13-inch baking pan. It will be a very thin layer of cookie dough, so do your best to spread it to the edges. The cookie dough is sticky, but a rubber spatula sprayed with non-stick spray makes this step easier.
Peanut Butter Cup Layer
The peanut butter cups are next! If there’s a peanut allergy in the house, feel free to leave these out completely. I use the miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, but the extra mini size or even the regular size would be fine. Feel free to chop the peanut butter cups first, but that’s not really necessary. You’ll be cutting the brownie cookie bars into squares anyway! You need about 48 miniature peanut butter cups. My peanut butter cup crunch brownies also pair Reese’s peanut butter cups with brownies—I encourage you to try those next!
Brownie Layer
And finally, a brownie batter blanket. ♥
I used a homemade brownie recipe for the top layer, but if you’re short on time or don’t have all the ingredients, a box brownie mix is totally fine. However, hopefully I can convince you that homemade brownies are worth it! This layer is a combination of my chewy fudgy frosted brownies and homemade brownies recipes. You need eggs, sugar, flour, and butter—basically all the same ingredients you use for the chocolate chip cookie layer. The chocolate flavor comes from pure chocolate. Pick up two 4-ounce semi-sweet chocolate baking bars from the baking aisle—I like Ghirardelli or Bakers brand.
The brownie layer features perfect crackly brownie tops and the tastes like pure fudge. Paired with chocolate chip cookies and a peanut butter cup and you have total chocolate monstrosity. Crumble them over a big bowl of chocolate ice cream, then laugh when someone asks you “how much chocolate is too much chocolate?”
This is what every weekend should look like.
More Bar Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
- Mint Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars
- Peanut Butter Blondies
- Scotcheroos
- White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
- Rice Krispie Treats
Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 24-30 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here’s what happens when you combine the delicious forces of soft chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, and peanut butter cups in one pan! Feel free to use the homemade brownie batter below or prepare your favorite boxed brownie batter.
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (270g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 48 unwrapped miniature peanut butter cups (or 2 cups chopped peanut butter cups)
Brownie Layer
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter
- two 4 ounce (226g) semi-sweet chocolate bars, coarsely chopped*
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (63g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished brownies out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Make the brownie layer first, even though it will go on top: Melt the butter and semi-sweet chocolate together in a medium saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. This takes about 15 minutes. Use this 15 minutes to make the chocolate chip cookie layer! Whisk sugar into cooled chocolate/butter mixture until combined. Add in the eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the flour and salt until combined.
- Make the cookie layer: In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until combined and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Beat on low speed until combined, then beat in the chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Using a silicone spatula sprayed with cooking spray (to reduce sticking), spread the cookie dough all over the prepared baking pan. The layer will be thin, but will puff up as it bakes. Top with peanut butter cups, then pour the brownie batter on top and smooth with a knife or rubber spatula.
- Bake the bars for 40-45 minutes, or until the center no longer jiggles and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean (a few brownie crumbs are OK). During bake time, tent pan with foil if the edges look like they are cooking a lot faster than the center.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan. Once cool, lift the parchment paper out of the pan using the overhang on the sides, then cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover brownies at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled brownie bars for up to 3 months. Arrange in even layers in a large freezer container between sheets of parchment. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then allow to come to room temperature before serving. Warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds if desired—they’re great with ice cream!
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Chocolate Bars: Chocolate bars are typically sold in 4 ounce bars. I suggest Ghirardelli, Baker’s brand, or Lindt.
Can I use large cookie sheet with sides
You could, but the bars will be a lot thinner and you will need to reduce the bake time. Hope it turns out great!
Amazing! Decadent and wonderful. I did use premade brownie mix but they are still absolutely fantastic. Like most reviewers I need closer to 53 minutes for them to be done, and I used foil for the last 10 minutes. So delicious!!
Out of this world!
After reading all the comments, I decided to tent the edges from the start. I baked it for 45 mins, then reduced the temperature to 325 & they came out perfect! I always use an oven thermometer to make sure my oven is actually heating at the temp selected. These are just delicious & went right into a Christmas tin to ship to family!! Thank you Sally & Happy Holidays!!
My oldest daughter who is an excellent baker and cook shared your recipes with me a few years ago and I have never been disappointed. This recipe combines two of my favorites – your chocolate chip cookies and your homemade brownies! I did not have the Reese’s cups necessary to complete this recipe to perfection but without them this is still a winner – my husband remarked how light they were, perfect texture and sweetness (even without the Reese’s).
They disappear fast when I share at events. I am getting ready to mail some to a few of my children.
Thank you for sharing your love of baking to so many of us –
We’re so glad these chocolate chip brownie bars were a hit for you, D. Dean! Thank you so much for making and trusting our recipes.
Thank you for posting you made them without the Reese’s and they turned out great. I didn’t have any Reese’s on hand but I wanted to make these. They are in the oven now! ☺️
Would this work okay without the peanut butter cups? We have a peanut allergy in our family.
Hi Tanya, absolutely. Just leave them out!
Hi Sally, this recipe looks delicious and fun. I’m trying to decide on making this or your brownie/peanut butter cookies. I’m getting cookie boxes and making them for wedding gift bags. Please advise me what your favorite would be to make. Thank you Sally
Hi Clo, You can’t go wrong with either one! These might be a little quicker to make since you don’t have to roll the individual cookies, but cookies definitely are natural for single servings. Let us know what you try!
Sounds delish! Can I make the cookie dough ahead and refrigerate and then make the brownie batter the day of and assemble then?
Hi Anita, that should work just fine. You may need to let the refrigerated cookie dough sit at room temperature for a bit so that it will be easier to spread into the pan. Hope you enjoy these bars!
Too decadent for my tastes, but pretty excellent. I used Ghiradelli brownie mix (used 2 bags for a 9×13, but definitely had excess with which just made a mini pan of brownies), dark chocolate pb cups from Trader Joe’s (~20) and only 1 c of choc chips in the cookie. Followed the rest of the recipe to a T, found that the cookie layer was carmelized/near burned at 45 min, but center of brownie raw. I cooked it longer and have overdone edges and perfect middle. Still quite tasty.
I made these, and the brownie took much longer than 45 minutes to cook- toothpicks were coming out with liquid on them until, what, twenty, thirty minutes past that? I removed the pan as soon as I didn’t see any liquid on the toothpick, and it led to a very fudgy brownie and a very crunchy cookie almost as dark as the brownie. Fortunately, it mostly tastes fine with the exception of the outermost centimeter or so, and even that was just extremely hard and dry without being burned.
I weighed everything, I used an oven thermometer to make sure the oven was at 350, I tented it with foil starting from the 35 minute mark, I didn’t substitute anything, and I baked in a metal pan. Should I have tented it earlier, like maybe even from the very start?
These came out extremely buttery, like EXTREMELY overly buttery to the point that they barely set and left behind a layer of butter in the pan. I’ve also had this problem with your Seriously Fudgy Homemade Brownies recipe. I live in Germany and I wonder if it’s a difference in the properties of the ingredients. Any advice and knowledge would be welcome 🙂
Hmmm. It certainly could be caused by a difference between American and European ingredients, that’s a logical explanation. This article on American vs. European butter says European butter usually contains more butterfat, and melts quicker. Maybe try reducing the butter slightly next time, and please report back on whether that helps solve the problem!
I cant seen to get the brownie layer to cook, I’m worried about over cooking the cookie layer.
Hi! Is it okay to refrigerate the dough for about 24 hours or so before baking? I need to prepare it in advance! Thanks!
Hi C.C., that will work just fine!
Would it be possible to halve the recipe? If so, what pan size and baking time is recommended?
Hi Chris, you can halve this recipe and use a 9 inch square baking pan. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it will be shorter.
I made a double batch for guests and they came out perfect first try. Everyone loved them!
I was looking for a recipe for brookies, and Sally’s Baking Addiction is my go-to for new cookie recipes. A few notes: I used Ghiradelli brownie mix (missing a few ingredients for the homemade) + this cookie layer in a glass pan for 42 minutes. I like my brownies a little underbaked, and this was perfect!
Can the candy/pb cup layer be omitted completely?
Yes, you can leave them out with no other changes. Enjoy!
I baked this as directed step by step and they came out AMAZING!!! I fell in love after the first bite. If you care to indulge, I suggest topping it with vanilla ice cream and nuts (to give it a crunch).
What’s a good substitute if I don’t have peanut butter?
Hi Marisol! Are you referring to the peanut butter cups? You can use chopped candy bars instead of the peanut butter cups if you prefer. Rolos would be great!
Amazing! I’ll only make them when guests are coming (or I can give some away!), because they are too good
Could I substitute a veggie oil for the butter in these batters without ruining it?
I can’t speak for this recipe specifically, but I have used veggie oil butter for other recipes, such as fudgy brownies, and breads, and it has worked just fine. I hope that helps.