These thick and chewy gluten free cookie bars are the easiest way to bake up everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookies in a single square baking pan.
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What's the difference between gf cookie bars, gf cookies, and gf blondies?
What's the difference between cookie bars, straight-up chocolate chip cookies, and blondies? So glad you asked!
Everyone knows that bars like blondies are baked together in a pan and cookies are baked in individual portions, spaced apart from one another on a baking sheet. But the difference between blondies and cookie bars is a little more subtle (but important!).
Blondies, like brownies, are baked with as little flour as possible. In fact, the flour used is just enough to ensure that the bars hold together once sliced and, well, bitten.
Cookie bars, like cookies, have enough flour to make them chewy and less dense than brownies. When you make chocolate chip cookies into bars, though, we can use more liquid and make a loose batter that wouldn't be possible if we were baking individual cookies. Plus, we get the convenience of baking them all together in one shot.
How to make these gluten free cookie bars
Like our chewy brownies recipe, these cookie bars have a gorgeous thin layer of meringue on top. When you bite into one, that layer shatters and gives way to the most lovely chewy bars.
To make the bars, first, melt the butter and sugars together in a saucepan. Then, allow that mixture to cool slightly before adding it to well-beaten eggs (+ egg yolk) and vanilla extract.
It's important to beat that mixture really well before adding whisked dry ingredients (gluten free flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt) and then the chocolate chips.
Combined with the right balance of wet to dry ingredients, and of course the right flour blend, this method creates super thick and chewy gluten free cookie bars. Using half brown sugar and half white granulated sugar, and melting those ingredients together with the butter first, makes for the perfect texture.
How to make thinner cookie bars
If you'd prefer to make bars that aren't quite as thick, and maybe even cut them into sticks, you can bake the same cookie dough in a jelly roll pan. A quarter sheet pan is a rimmed baking sheet that measures 9-inches x 13-inches x 1-inch.
A jelly roll pan is slightly larger, measuring 10-inches x 15-inches x 1-inch. Those extra few square inches make a big difference in providing the cookie dough with enough space to bake without overflowing the pan.
Since the batter will be better exposed to the heat of the oven in a jelly roll pan, you'll need less baking time. Instead of 40 minutes at 325°F, thinner bars will bake in about 30 minutes. Similar to cheesecake, the bars are done when they no longer jiggle much in the center.
Gluten free cookie bars: Ingredients and substitutions
Gluten free dairy free cookie bars
To replace the butter in this recipe, I would try half (4 tablespoons) Earth Balance buttery sticks and half (4 tablespoons) Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. Or, if you have it available to you, Melt brand vegan butter typically works great as a butter substitute in baking.
Gluten free egg free cookie bars
There are two whole eggs in this recipe and one egg yolk. The two whole eggs may be able to be replaced with one “chia egg” each (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). Without the eggs, you'll miss out on the crinkly brownie-style top, though.
The egg yolk, which helps to add richness and tenderness to the bars, is a bit harder to replace. You can try another tablespoon of unsalted butter or even a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Feel free to experiment!
Replacing cornstarch in these gf cookie bars
The cornstarch in these cookies adds tenderness. If you can’t have corn, try replacing the cornstarch with an equal amount, by weight, of arrowroot or potato starch.
Gluten Free Cookie Bars Recipe
Equipment
- Handheld or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (175 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click thru for appropriate blends)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter chopped
- ⅝ cup (125 g) granulated sugar
- ⅝ cup (136 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature
- 1 (25 g) egg yolk at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil, or regular heavy-duty aluminum foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Set the pan aside.
- In a small bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
- In a medium-size, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the chopped butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar.
- Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, melt the butter and sugar and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool until no longer hot to the touch. You can immerse the bottom of the pan in some ice water, but take care not to let the water splash up into the pan and don’t cool so much that the butter resolidifies.
- In a large bowl, place the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, and beat with a handheld mixer until foamy and lighter in color (about a minute).
- Add the cooled butter and sugar mixture, and beat very well until the mixture falls off the beaters in ribbons (about 3 minutes).
- Add the flour mixture to the bowl, stir until the streaks of flour disappear, then beat briefly to ensure that everything is combined. The mixture will be thickly pourable and very sticky.
- Add all but about 1 ounce of the chocolate chips, and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
- Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking pan, and shake and spread it into an even layer in the pan.
- Scatter the remaining chocolate chips evenly over the top, and place the pan in the center of the preheated oven.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top no longer glistens or jiggles at all. Remove the pan from the oven.
- Allow the bars to cool in the pan at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before placing them, still in the pan, in the refrigerator to chill until firm to the touch.
- Remove the cooled bars from the pan by holding onto the foil. Slice into 9 equal pieces, and serve.
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Anna says
Could you cut out the cornstarch in these and use tapioca starch/flour?? Thank you
Nicole Hunn says
Please see the ingredients and substitutions section, Anna!
Courtney Noble says
Hello! I am wondering if you’ve ever doubled this recipe and used a 9 x 13 pan? I have double other recipes and used a jelly roll pan, but I would like these to be thick.
Thanks for your help!
Nicole Hunn says
I haven’t tried that, Courtney, but I don’t really recommend it. This is relatively wet cookie dough, and I think it would be very difficult for it to bake all the way through without burning on the bottom. I think you’re better off doubling the recipe and baking it in 2 separate square baking pans.
Diane says
Wow, Nicole! You have another winner here. I have yet to make one of your recipes that hasn’t been out of this world! I took your advice and started weighing all of the ingredients in your recipes and I was amazed at how much variance there is, especially with eggs.
Thank you for making and sharing your wonderful creations with us! You are awesome!
Nicole Hunn says
So true, Diane, there is a ton of variation in pretty much everything. Weighing ingredients is pretty much the only way to ensure success and remove the all-to-human element! Thank you so much for the kind words.
Anita says
Hi Nicole. Love your site. Was wondering if it would work if I used parchment paper to line the pan? I don’t like baking/cooking with aluminum foil anymore. Thanks
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Anita, the foil is the very best way to get the liner into the corners of the pan in a way that it will keep its shape, which is particularly important with a looser batter. You can use unbleached parchment paper, but it may curve over and fall onto the bars as they’re baking. Up to you!
Carie Coleman says
To quote The Kool Aid man, “Oooooooh, yeah!”
These bars are delicious, with a caramel-like interior. My dough was very runny and I thought a disaster was on the horizon. But nay, my GF Captain, Nicole never leads me astray! My non-GF Hubs was left swooning and drooling after just one bar.
Looking back, perhaps the caramel-y flavor may have been due to the Heath toffee crunch bits I added. And I would do it again!
Thanks a
For a lovely recipe, Nicole.
Nicole Hunn says
Ooooh, Heath bits sound decadent and perfect, Carie!! It’s definitely not a typical cookie dough at all, more like a batter. Glad you trusted the process! ?
Lori Huhn says
Amazing cookies. Just like regular
Denise says
What is the purpose of the aluminum foil in the pan? We try not to use aluminum in our house.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Denise, it’s the easiest way to mold the pan lining to the shape of the pan without interfering with the bars.
Ellen says
If you have time to clarify: In the post, you mention making the bars thinner by using a jelly roll pan and you differentiate that pan from a quarter sheet pan – as if this is what you used to make these bars. However, the instructions call for an 8 inch square pan… I realize it should be okay either way, but I am interested in trying them as pictured (because these pictures are so tempting!). Thank you!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Ellen, I think you understood and explained it just right! As pictured and described in the recipe, you make the bars in an 8-inch square baking pan. If you’d like to make them thinner, you can use a jelly roll pan and watch the baking time.
Mia says
I think I might just have to try these out on my team at work some time soon!
Ria says
Wonderful recipe Nicole!
These turned out yummy, moist & chewy. ?
Nicole Hunn says
That’s great to hear, Ria. Thank you for letting me know!
Brittney Fischer says
Hi there! I’m the Marketing Manager here at Melt Organic, and wa wondering if we could use your image/recipe for the Thick & Chewy Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars! I cooked some the other night for a little/big snack, and they were fab!
I would also love to add the link to this pr whatever page you’d like in turn.
Please let me know what you think! Thank you :)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Brittney, feel free to use any of the images that you like, but I’m afraid you can’t reproduce the recipe. A link back would work, though! Thanks.
Patricia A Caslen says
Gluten free chocolate chip cookies