Here’s what you get when you mash together the irresistible combo of soft chocolate chip cookies, fudgy brownies, and peanut butter cups in one pan! These chocolate chip cookie brownie bars are ridiculously indulgent in the best way possible. You’ll definitely want to bring your biggest sweet tooth for this one.
Some days, I love sharing healthier recipes with you.
Today is not one of those days. If chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and peanut butter cups are your idea of dessert heaven, go ahead and preheat your oven right now.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars
This cookie bar was my husband’s genius idea. Six years ago, right after one of his bike races, he said, “You should make a chocolate chip cookie layer with peanut butter cups and brownies on top.” Clearly, the man was craving chocolate—and honestly, it didn’t take much to convince me to bake them. Let’s take a second to appreciate what these insane dessert bars really are:
- Are they a brownie?
- Are they a cookie?
- A full-on sugar explosion?
- Your dentist’s worst nightmare?
The answer is yes to all of the above. These chocolate chip cookie brownie bars are the ultimate dessert mash-up: chocolate chip cookies + peanut butter cups + brownies. I made both the cookie and brownie layers from scratch, and I highly recommend you do the same!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
The bottom layer is a thick, soft chocolate chip cookie dough. Now, I’ve got tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes—chewy ones, crispy ones, even giant ones—but for these bars, I went with my soft chocolate chip cookies. They give you a tender, thick cookie “crust,” which is perfect for holding up a dense dessert bar. Let’s be real—no one wants to bite into a fudgy brownie only to hit a rock-hard cookie underneath, right? Since these bars bake for a while, using a soft cookie recipe helps make sure everything stays deliciously tender. Makes sense?
Best part? No chilling the cookie dough!
Once you’ve got the dough ready, spread it into a lined 9×13-inch baking pan. It’ll be a thin layer, so just do your best to press it to the edges. The dough is sticky, but a rubber spatula lightly sprayed with non-stick spray makes it way easier.
Peanut Butter Cup Layer
Next up—peanut butter cups! If peanut allergies are a concern, you can skip these entirely. I use mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, but the extra-mini or even regular-sized ones would work too. You can chop them up if you want, but it’s not necessary—you’ll be slicing the bars into squares later anyway! You’ll need about 48 mini peanut butter cups.
Brownie Layer
And finally, a cozy blanket of brownie batter. ♥
I used a homemade brownie recipe for the top layer, but if you’re in a hurry or missing ingredients, a boxed mix works just fine. That said, I highly recommend homemade—they’re so worth it! This layer is a mix between my chewy fudgy frosted brownies and homemade brownies recipes. You’ll need eggs, sugar, flour, and butter—basically the same stuff you used for the cookie layer. The chocolate flavor comes from real chocolate bars—grab two 4-ounce semi-sweet baking bars (I love Ghirardelli or Baker’s).
The brownie layer has that perfect crackly top and tastes like pure fudge. Pair it with chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cups, and you’ve got a full-on chocolate overload. Crumble these over a bowl of chocolate ice cream, and just laugh when someone asks, “Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?”
