Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Bars

Hey guys! I know I’ve talked about this before, but if you’ve never baked cookies as bars, you’re in for a serious treat. Not only is it insanely easy, but you also get slightly crispy, chewy edges with soft centers, almost like baking brownies. These are Snickerdoodles, baked as bars, studded with mini chocolate chips, and it’s a real good feeling these days.

Chocolate and cinnamon as a flavor combo is having a serious moment in my house. It was a big theme of my holiday cookies this year, and it’s just a cozy and generally delightful combination of flavors. Snickerdoodles are a great cookie, but add chocolate and it’s a whole new level of amazing. Let’s get to it!

How to Make Snickerdoodle Bars

I mix these cookies entirely by hand with a dutch dough whisk, but if you don’t have one of those, you can use a firm spatula, or you can use an electric hand mixer here as well. These come together like most cookies, and start with mixing soft butter into sugar until well combined and fluffy. After stirring in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, you can add your dry ingredients and stir until everything is well combined, and no dry pockets remain.

I am using mini chocolate chips here because they distribute well in these cookie bars. You can also use a finely chopped bar of chocolate, or you can give normal chocolate chips a rough chop!

The dough should be on the softer side of cookie dough, a little bit sticky and very thick. I like to grease my baking pan, and line it with parchment paper to make it easier to remove the cookies after they’ve baked. Press the dough into pan with clean hands- it takes a little work, and it’ll be a fairly thin layer, that’s how it’s supposed to be though!

Then, sprinkle on the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly all over the top. It should look something like this:

Then it’s just off to the oven. These bars will puff up while baking, and once they cool, they will settle slightly in the middle, creating taller edges. This gives you a really pretty great texture contrast that I love! And that’s it- they are so easy to make. No rolling each cookie in sugar, or baking in batches- cookie bars are insanely easy!

Tips & Tricks for Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars

The beauty of cookie bars is how simple they are, but I still have a few tips to help you out!

• Use an 8 inch pan, not anything larger. These cookies work perfectly for this size, but anything larger will make it hard to spread the dough evenly, and they will bake very thin.
• Use the chocolate that you have. I am using mini chips because the size works well in these bars. If you don’t have mini chips, go for a finely chopped bar of chocolate, or you can even give normal chips a rough chop.
• Be sure to use all the cinnamon/sugar mixture so that you get that slightly crunchy topping that really makes them feel like snickerdoodles!
• I am at about 5,000 ft above sea level, and this recipe is for high-altitude friendly cookies. I find that most people who live between 3,000 ft and 7,000 ft above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

I hope you guys enjoy these ones- they are a quick little weeknight-friendly cookie recipe. Enjoy!

Dough-Eyed

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!