Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are the ultimate holiday dessert! We call these Halfway to Heaven Bars in our house because they are so heavenly delicious. Baking amazing chocolate chip bars has never been easier or more delicious, and they’re topped with a brown sugar meringue for even more flavor. The perfect Christmas dessert!
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Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars topped with brown sugar meringue…that’s what we like to call Halfway to Heaven Bars, and they’re the perfect holiday dessert!
Halfway to Heaven Bars are all I need in this world. These chocolate chip cookie bars are SO delicious, just the right amount of soft and chewy, and absolutely addicting. They’re super simple (just a thin layer of chocolate chip cookie topped with brown sugar meringue), but they’re a total delight. Heavenly even, hence their name.
These amazing chocolate chip bars are my mom’s recipe, so THANK YOU MOM! You have passed down many great things to me. Your sense of humor, your wacky ways, and your organizational skills (just kidding, I totally didn’t inherit that), but these Halfway to Heaven Bars might be the best thing I have gotten from you. MMM!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are the perfect holiday treat, whether you’re sharing them at a party or just keeping them to yourself on a weekend afternoon. I always look forward to these delicious cookie bars, and you will to once you’ve tried them!
These Halfway to Heaven Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are so easy, so delicious, and so perfect for the holiday season.
Halfway to Heaven Chocolate Chip Bars
When I used to live in Florida and would come home for Christmas, I would hope and pray these chocolate chip cookie bars would be on the menu for the holidays. Mom would never disappoint! She makes SO MANY BAKED GOODS for Christmas, my brother and I always make fun of her. But I mean, it’s also amazing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I mean just look at these amazing chocolate chip bars!
I cut these Halfway to Heaven Bars much larger than they need to be, because I shamelessly thought they photographed better that way. A little goes a long way with these babes, so even a small cookie does the trick. This recipe makes a large amount because you can cut them pretty small, win win! Take some to work, save some for Christmas, hide some away from your kids…you get the idea.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
A layer of soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie topped with a layer of sweet brown sugar meringue…is your mouth watering yet?! These chocolate chip cookie bars are so easy to make, and since it makes a pretty big batch, they’re so easy to share too! These Halfway to Heaven bars are the perfect thing to bring to parties, but just as fun to keep around the house for yourself.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Bars:
- Mix butter, granulated sugar, & 1/2 cup brown sugar in a stand mixer until creamy
- Beat in egg yolks, vanilla, and water
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add into the egg/butter mixture
- Pat cookie dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan, then sprinkle in chocolate chips and press them into the dough
- Beat egg whites on high in stand mixer until stiff, then add in brown sugar while mixer is still going
- Spread the mixture over the cookie dough
- Bake chocolate chip bars for 25-30 minutes at 350°F
Once the chocolate chip cookie bars are done, let them cool completely before cutting and serving. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5-7 days.
I hope you all love these Halfway to Heaven Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars as much as we do. They’re so soft, so chewy, and so delicious. The perfect holiday treat!
See the recipe card below for details on how to make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. Enjoy!
If you like these chocolate chip bars, you’ll love these other desserts too:
- Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
- S’mores Dessert Pizza
- Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
- Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies
- Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
Halfway to Heaven Bars (Meringue Topped Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars)
Ingredients
For the crust layer:
- ½ cup 1 stick butter, unsalted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 12 oz package chocolate chips (½ semi-sweet and ½ milk chocolate works well)
For the meringue layer:
- 2 egg whites
- 1 cup brown sugar dark or light
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x13 jelly roll pan with non-stick spray.
For the crust layer
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together butter, granulated sugar and ½ cup brown sugar until lighter in color and creamy. Add egg yolks, water and vanilla, and beat until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add to butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pat dough into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle bottom layer evenly with chocolate chips then slightly press the chips into the dough layer.
For the meringue layer:
- In a clean mixer bowl, beat egg whites on HIGH until they are almost stiff. With mixer still on HIGH, carefully and gradually add the brown sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff.
- Spread mixture over top of chocolate chips.
- Bake the bars at 350F, for 25-30 minutes, or until top has darkened slightly and meringue is set and cooked.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely, then cut and serve.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
Nutrition Information
My mother made these nearly 70 years ago. The recipe was on the Nestle’s chocolate chip package and they were called halfway chocolatechip cookirs. Thetr was no mention of heaven although they definitely are heavenly
Ghdy’re nust hslfway like a cookie.
Such a fun memory!
I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted something so badly before. These look so amazing, I love anything with meringue in it. Chocolate chip cookies are not my favorite, so I may make another type of cookie (toffee or macadamia?), but I can’t wait to try this idea out. I am so glad I saw this post today. Thanks!
My Mom had the EXACT SAME RECIPE. I thought it was a deep, dark family secret. Apparently, others knew it too. It is also the center of our holiday cookie-fest. We call them “halfway cookies” but never understood it. On my Mom’s cooking Index cards from 1959, it is labelled as “halfway Cookies”. Thanks for filling in the gaps!
Ha! This is awesome!
Made these last night and they were a huge hit with all 5 of us! This will be a new cookie added to our list of recipes that we bake for 250 clients each Christmas! Thank you and I look forward to trying more new recipes from your site. Merry Christmas!
That is awesome! So glad you love them :)
is there no flour in the cookie base part? seems like there should be? These look so good!
Thank you Judy, such a good catch! Thank goodness you said something! I’m updating the recipe right now. There are 2 cups flour. So sorry about that!
thanks! Can’t wait to try!
What type of flour? All-purp or self rising?
All purpose, hope you enjoy!
These cookie bars are similar to some my Mom used to make called Sea Foam Squares. The cookie base was very similar but had some rolled oats in it. Then we put the brown sugar meringue on followed by sprinkling the chocolate chips on top along with Spanish salted peanuts, then bake. This is the very best version of this cookie bar.
That sounds AMAZING! What a great way to make them!
All I can say is YUM!!!!
Thanks Sophie!
Can I come to your mom’s for Christmas?? ;P These look delicious!
Of course! Come on over :)