Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I am dumbfounded as to how these cookie bars do not yet have their own little cozy corner of this site. After the chunky pecan pie bars, these cookie bars were the second baked good that I made over and over and over again in high school and beyond. I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars at one point, and then decided that they needed peanut butter and some peanut butter chips for good measure. Like most things in the kitchen, peanut butter turns regular chocolate chip cookie bars into an amazing concoction that are completely addicting.

I made these a lot in high school, and once college rolled around I went to a school in the same city that I lived, while two of my best friends went off to a school a couple of hours away. While I lived on campus at school, I was only 25 minutes or so away from home, so I made it home more often than my friends did. I took the opportunity to bake these up every time I was home, and then I would package them up and send them off to my friends. I still remember standing in the kitchen and packing them up in shoe boxes to mail off.

They always made my friends smile – they got a taste of home, and I got the satisfaction of baking and showing my friends I cared. I highly recommend baking these and sharing them with someone you love!

One year ago: Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Three years ago: Pain Ordinaire Careme (A Daily Loaf)
Four years ago: Italian Stuffed Peppers

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Yield: 32 bars

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Bake Time: 16 to 20 minutes

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.

2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

4. Turn out the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container.

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