Buttery crisp and super chocolatey, this chocolate chip cookie bark is bound to be your new favorite way to eat chocolate chip cookies. It’s quick and easy to make, and you don’t even need a mixer. It’s a fun salty and sweet addition to a holiday cookie tray, and makes a thoughtful homemade gift to any cookie lover. (If you even want to share it!)
My kitchen assistant, Beth, came up with today’s recipe idea. She was inspired by a package of Tate’s holiday cookie bark, and brought me the idea for a chocolate chip cookie bark. We tested a couple versions, tweaking the dough from my crispy chocolate chip cookies recipe. Today’s recipe the best of the bunch. We then had the rest of the crew taste test, and ended up giving it to our families over Thanksgiving. Everyone raved (how can you not), and we knew we had to share the recipe with you ASAP!
This toffee-tasting chocolate chip cookie bark is absolutely perfect for adding to a holiday cookie variety tray: it’s a cookie-candy hybrid and you will not be able to stop eating it…!!
To mix up the cookie dough, you need 1 bowl for the wet ingredients and 1 bowl for the dry ingredients. Mix both separately, and then combine. It’s a slightly greasy dough:
Line a large baking sheet (12×17/13×18 inches, aka half sheet pan) with parchment paper. Press the cookie dough into an even layer, pressing it to cover the entire parchment paper-lined baking sheet. It may take you a couple minutes, but I promise that eventually you will get it pressed thin enough to cover the entire pan!
I like to use my hands to press it down at first, and then I switch to an offset spatula to really get the dough to all edges of the pan.
Bake at 375ºF for up to 20 minutes. Note that we’re baking at a higher temperature than most of my chocolate chip cookie recipes. While it bakes, chop up your chocolate for the topping. Because we want the chocolate to melt into a smooth layer, avoid using chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers that prevent them from fully melting.
Sprinkle the chopped chocolate all over the hot cookie layer, and return it to the oven for 1-2 minutes to melt the chocolate.
Remove the cookie bark from the oven, and use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer to cover the cookie nearly to the edges. If you want to add a little extra something on top, before the chocolate has a chance to set, sprinkle it with flaky sea salt or your favorite sprinkles. (This would also taste fantastic with chopped toffee bits, like we use to top these peanut butter fudge puddles.)
Let the cookie bark cool on the baking sheet, then transfer the whole thing to the refrigerator to set the chocolate (takes about 30 minutes).
Once the chocolate sets, take it out of the fridge and cut or break it into pieces. Just wait until you hear that CRISP!
For a few days, yes! Cookie bark tastes best on the day and day after it’s made, but the texture is still good for a couple days after that. We noticed it starts to taste a bit stale around day 4 or 5. But really, is it even possible to have any of this chocolate chip cookie bark left for that long? I doubt it!
Buttery crisp and super chocolatey, this chocolate chip cookie bark is bound to be your new favorite way to eat chocolate chip cookies. It's quick and easy to make, and you don't even need a mixer. It's a fun salty and sweet addition to a holiday cookie tray, and makes a thoughtful homemade gift to any cookie lover. (If you even want to share it!)