13 Delicious Bar Cookie Recipes that Can Serve a Crowd (2024)

FAQs

What pan is best for bar cookies? ›

9-by-13-inch baking pans: To make bar cookies, you obviously need a pan to bake them in. I prefer metal, straight-sided pans that truly measure 9 by 13. Many pans have rounded corners, dramatically-sloped sides or are slightly smaller in dimension than their labeling might suggest.

Bar cookies baked in insulated baking pans often don't brown well. Try baking bars longer than called for in your recipe. Realize that most published recipes are not developed using insulated pans. Ideally, only bake one baking pan of bar cookies at a time, placing it on a rack in the middle of the oven.

I am going out on a limb against popular opinions by saying, YES, it's okay to place your under baked or underdone cookies back into the oven for a second bake. But here's the condition: you would need to adjust the baking time and temperature.

For a 13×9 Pan:

On the long side of the pan, make a mark and cut down every 2 1/10-inches, so you have 6 columns. Turn the pan to its shorter side and make one cut down the middle, 4 ½-inches from the edge. You'll end up with 12 2 1/10×4 ½-inch rectangles.

For cake-like bars, test with a wooden pick inserted at the center of the pan. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, the cookies are done. Chewy (moister) bars will have a dull, rather than shiny, surface; a slight imprint will remain after touching the surface lightly with your fingertip.

To protect flavor and prevent the cookies from drying out, wrap tightly in heavy duty aluminum foil or freezer wrap, or pack in freezer bags or plastic freezer containers with tight-fitting lids. Separate bars with waxed paper between the layers. Remove as much air as possible and seal tightly.

Cookies become hard when the moisture in them evaporates. This can be caused by leaving them out in the air for too long, baking them for too long, or storing them improperly.

If you cut bars or brownies while they are still warm, they will crumble (some more than others.) Make sure cookies are completely cool in order to get best results when cutting them, regardless of whether or not you line the baking pan with foil or simply grease the pan.

Chocolate chip cookies

What is the most popular type of cookie? It might just be this one. Ever the crowd-pleaser, the chocolate chip cookie is renowned for its balance of richness and sweetness.

What is a dropped cookie? ›

“Drop cookie” is a term applied to cookie recipes where bakers “drop” cookie dough from a spoon or cookie scoop onto a baking sheet, rather than roll it out or cut it into specific shapes.

In many ways, bar cookies are the easiest and quickest way to make cookies. With bar cookies all ingredients and dough is layered and pressed into a pan or baking dish. The pan is then baked and cut into individual servings such as lemon bars, peanut butter bars or cookie pizzas.

More egg in a cookie is more water beyond all else. More water is going to increase spread, reduce the rise of the cookie and create a more dense and chewy texture. Less egg creates a more cake-like texture with less color and a drier texture.

Golden brown edges - A fully cooked chocolate chip cookie will have light, golden-brown edges. If the edges are dark brown or black, you've overcooked them. On the other hand, if they're pale without a honey-brown tinge, they're not ready yet.

If your cookies have cooled all the way down and they're still more on the raw side, they'll have to go back in the oven. As per Food52's instructions, preheat your oven to about 300 or 325 degrees Fahrenheit, then add the cookies in for 10 to 15 minutes at most, depending on how underbaked they were to begin with.

Baking Pans for Bars

Those include an 8" x 8" x 2" baking pan, a 13" x 9" baking pan, or a 14" x 10" jellyroll pan, depending on what the recipe specifies. (Learn more about baking pans and how to choose one.)

While stainless steel is a preferred material for many cookware pieces, it's widely known to be a poor performer in the baking sheet category because it's not as good at conducting heat as aluminum.

– but metal does an overall better job than glass of baking almost everything except for acidic desserts. It bakes evenly because it heats up so quickly. It also browns beautifully and crisps to perfection.

That is actually my first tip. I use a glass pan (like this Pyrex Baking Dish ) instead of a metal one, because I always found the edges would get to brown in the metal pan. That would also cause all the bars along the edge to stick. The glass pan doesn't over do the edges and they don't stick nearly as much.