Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars — Easy One-Pan Recipe for a Crowd 🍪
It’s Just One Cookie
In our family, chocolate chip cookies are serious business — and these Toll House cookie bars are my secret weapon for feeding a crowd fast. My mama had a recipe that was absolutely perfect, and my daughter has carried it on. Whenever we want those cookies, she’s the one who makes them. But sometimes — when you need to feed a crowd and you need something fast, delicious, and guaranteed to disappear in minutes — you need a shortcut. That’s when I turn to these Toll House cookie bars. One pan. One bowl. Thirty-six to forty-eight squares. Done.
🍰 This one’s in my collection of desserts for a crowd — the ones that travel well and feed a lot of people.
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Watch me make these Toll House cookie bars from start to finish — chocolate chip spill and all — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
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Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Start CookingIngredients
- 2 ¼ cups King Arthur all purpose flour
- 2 sticks salted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
Don’t Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
Method Start Cooking
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and eggs with softened butter. Mix until well combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Press dough flat into a 15×10 jelly roll pan. Tip — wet your fingers and use them to press the dough out evenly across the pan. It's much easier than a spatula!
- Bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly then slice into squares and serve.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Four Weeks of Family-Friendly FoodWhen people gather, I cook. Four weeks of the dinners my crowd asks for — planned, tested, and shopped for. Come see what’s in the cookbook →Why These Toll House Cookie Bars Work
These Toll House cookie bars have become one of our most-requested treats — and it’s easy to see why. You mix the dough in one bowl, press it into a 15×10 jelly roll pan, bake for 20 to 25 minutes, and you have a dessert that serves 36 to 48 people depending on how you slice them. No scooping, no rotating pans, no babysitting individual cookies on a sheet. The whole thing bakes at once and comes out with those beautiful golden edges and a soft, chewy center that tastes like the real thing — because it is the real thing, just in a different shape.
The other thing I love is that this recipe uses ingredients you probably already have stocked. Flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, salt, and a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips . That’s it. Make them for your next potluck, holiday gathering, game day party, school event, or any time you need a crowd-pleasing dessert in a hurry. They travel well, they stack well in a container, and they disappear fast.
A Few Things That Make Toll House Cookie Bars Even Easier
- Wet your fingers, skip the spatula. When spreading the dough out into the jelly roll pan, wet your fingers and press the dough flat. It is so much easier than a spatula and you’ll get an even layer every time. This is my mama’s tip — and she was a home ec teacher, so she knew her way around a kitchen.
- Baking powder, not baking soda. I don’t love the taste of baking soda in baking, so I always substitute baking powder — but you have to double it. That’s why this recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Trust me on this one.
- Use a metal jelly roll pan , not glass. Metal gives you crispier edges and a better lift when you cut the bars. If all you have is a glass pan, add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time and watch the edges carefully so they don’t overbake.
- Pull them when the center looks slightly underbaked. The bars keep cooking from the residual heat of the pan after they come out of the oven. If the center looks completely set when you pull them, they’re already overbaked. Edges golden, center barely set — that’s the move.
- Cool completely before cutting. I know it’s hard. Just wait. Warm cookie bars tear apart instead of slicing clean. Let the pan cool on the counter for at least an hour, then cut into squares with a sharp knife wiped between cuts for clean edges.
Toll House Cookie Bars FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
What is the difference between toll house cookie bars and regular cookies?
The recipe and the ingredients are exactly the same — the difference is the pan. Regular Toll House chocolate chip cookies are scooped and baked on a sheet pan as individual rounds. Toll House cookie bars (also called pan cookies) use the same dough pressed into a jelly roll pan and baked as one large slab, then cut into squares after cooling. The bar version is faster, easier, and serves a crowd without the work of scooping and rotating multiple pans. Same flavor, a fraction of the effort. The Kitchn has a great breakdown on why cookie bars are arguably even better than the cookies themselves if you want to read more on the why.
What pan size works best for toll house cookie bars?
A 15×10 jelly roll pan is the right size for this recipe — it’s what I use every time. That size spreads the dough to the right thickness for a chewy center with golden edges. You can use glass or metal, but I prefer metal for cookie bars because it gives you slightly crispier edges and a better lift when you cut them. My go-to is this 15x10 jelly roll pan . If you only have a glass pan, add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time and watch the edges carefully.
How do I know when the bars are done baking?
The edges should be golden brown and the center should look just barely set — it will still look slightly soft when you pull the pan out, and that is exactly right. The bars continue cooking from the residual heat of the pan after they come out of the oven. If you wait until the center looks completely set in the oven, they’ll be overbaked. At 375°F, pull them at 20 to 25 minutes and let them cool completely in the pan before cutting.
Can I make toll house cookie bars ahead of time?
Yes — and they actually get better after a few hours. Bake them the night before, let them cool completely, cover the pan with foil, and slice them the next day. They hold their texture beautifully at room temperature for up to 3 days. This makes them one of my favorite make-ahead desserts for potlucks and parties because the whole thing is done before the event and there’s nothing to stress about day-of.
What’s the best way to store these bars?
Store cut bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Layer them with parchment paper between layers if you’re stacking them so they don’t stick together. You can also freeze them — wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature for about an hour and they taste freshly baked.
How many squares does one pan of toll house cookie bars make?
One pan of Toll House cookie bars gives you 36 to 48 squares depending on how you slice them. For a crowd I do 6 rows by 8 columns for 48 smaller squares — perfect for a dessert table where people are also eating other things. For a smaller group who wants a more generous bar, do 4 rows by 6 columns for 24 larger bars. Either way, one pan goes a long way.
What flour works best for toll house cookie bars?
All-purpose flour is the right choice — it gives you that classic chewy-with-crispy-edges texture that makes these bars so good. I use King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour for all my baking. Consistent protein content means consistent results every single time, and these Toll House cookie bars deserve consistent results.
Can I add mix-ins or toppings?
Absolutely. The base dough is very forgiving. Some crowd favorites: swap half the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips, add a cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, stir in a cup of shredded coconut, or press a layer of M&Ms on top of the dough before baking for a colorful party version. Keep total mix-ins to about 2 cups so the dough doesn’t get overloaded and the bars still hold together when you cut them.
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Ingredients
Equipment
More Crowd Desserts You’ll Love
- Texas Sheet Cake — the best chocolate cake for a crowd, with that incredible poured fudge frosting
- Eclair Squares — Kathy Petty’s no-bake dessert that has been requested at every potluck since I first made it
- Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Bars — another crowd-sized bar cookie that disappears just as fast
- Mama’s Peanut Butter Crisscross Cookies — the classic fork-pattern cookie, crisp at the edges and soft in the middle
- Monster Cookies — chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and M&M’s all in one gluten free cookie
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Toll House Cookie Bars — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.
Confused as to why the written recipe and equipment section calls for a half sheet pan, yet elsewhere it says a 9×13 is the right size for the recipe. The final product pictures are not in a 9×13 either. I’m also wondering if a 9×13 should be baked at 350 instead of 375. I think some clarification is needed.
Malibu, thank you for this! You caught a real mix-up and I appreciate you taking the time to flag it. You’re exactly right that these are baked in a 15×10 jelly roll pan, not a 9×13. The pan got written up wrong when the post was put together, while the photos and the recipe card were the ones telling the truth. I’ve corrected it throughout now. And 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes is right for the jelly roll pan — but your instinct was a good one, because a deep 9×13 really would call for a lower temperature, which is part of how we knew something was off. Thanks again for the sharp eye, and enjoy those cookie bars!
Happy to help, and thank you for the quick response!
This is so much easier than scooping individual cookies, cooking one dozen or so at a time, letting them cool and doing that again one or two more times. One pan, 20-25 minutes and you’re done. So easy and absolutely delicious!
Thank you for your review! ❤️ I started making them this way for the convenience, but I actually prefer the texture, too! 😊