Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Freshly Milled Flour

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These soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars with freshly milled flour are beyond delicious and super easy to make. They are chewy and chocolatey, with lovely hints of brown sugar and vanilla.

Cookie bars are here to save the day when time is short and you need a quick and easy dessert. These soft and chewy chocolate chip chewy bars with freshly milled flour are the perfect dessert for at home and are easily made ahead of time or doubled for a crowd.

How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars With Freshly Milled Flour

• 1 3/4 cup freshly milled soft white wheat
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar(or maple sugar, coconut sugar or sucanat
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350* F.

Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease with avocado oil or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine melted butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla, mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients; flour, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter into 9×13 baking dish and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the center done.

Allow to cool to room temperature. If you are pressed for time or just can’t wait to eat these 😉 – gently lift the parchment paper out of the baking dish and set on a cooling rack.

Slice with a knife once cooled. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

*For a fun variation, try adding 3/4 cup unsweet shredded coconut – so good!!

Is Soft White Wheat The Same as White All-Purpose Flour?

No, they are very, very different! While both are made from wheat, soft white wheat is a whole wheat flour made using the whole wheat berry, which is then milled into whole grain flour using a grain mill. Whole grain flour contains all the nutritional benefits naturally that bleached all-purpose flour has been stripped of, such as vitamins and minerals found in the the bran and the germ.

Is Soft White Wheat Flour Healthier Than All-Purpose White Flour?

Absolutely. The reason that freshly milled whole wheat flours are healthier is because they are made by grinding entire wheat kernels into flour.  These wheat kernels are small but mighty, proving to be health food powerhouses of protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins!

 This is something commercial white all-purpose flour misses by removing the nutrient-dense parts, like the bran and the germ, all in the name of improving its shelf life. Although an improved shelf life sounds like a good thing, it comes with an extra cost of stripping away what health benefits it naturally contained before it was refined.

Another thing to consider is the health benefits you reap when specifically using freshly-milled flour mixture in your recipes. Since you are using fresh flour, the taste and quality is going to be far superior to flour that has been sitting on a store shelf for months. These health components, like vitamin E, folate, fiber, and antioxidants hold up even longer when milling your own flour, which allows you to use the flour at its peak freshness and most vitamin rich.

In conclusion, whole wheat flours, fresh milled flour, soft and hard, are considered healthier by far. 

Can I Use White Chocolate Chips Instead of Chocolate Chips?

Go for it! The most important things thing to keep in mind are that white chocolate chips are a little less consistent in what types of fat they contain across different store brands. Because of the varying fats used in different brands, they will all have different melting points. This is more of an issue with individual cookies, but still might pose an issue for cookies in bar form. If you can find a brand of white chocolate chips made only with cocoa butter, you’ll have a result that mimics real chocolate chips. Otherwise even a little bit of  oil additives can make the chocolate runnier and mess with the final result. If you’re a white chocolate fan, just shop around a little and be mindful of the ingredients in store.

What About Other Types Of Chocolate Chip? Milk Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Chunks, Dark Chocolate Chips, Bittersweet Chips, Mini Chocolate Chips?

All different types of chocolate chips should work. None of these should change the texture, just the taste! So keep your personal preference for sweetness in mind.
Of course, in the case of mini chocolate chips, the cookie bars would contain a large amount of small chocolate pieces versus a small amount of larger pieces of chocolate.

How Do I Know If My Cookie Dough Is Over-mixed?

A good visual cue to know your cookie dough is not over-mixed is to stop once your cookie dough color and appearance is even throughout. No streaks or flour or butter, no uneven color or texture. If you’re using a stand mixer, stand near the bowl to make sure you stop just as everything is incorporated evenly.

Can I Use Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips?

Yes. Semi-sweet chocolate chips are the most common kind of chocolate chips used in a cookie bar recipe, or your favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Because they contain less sugar than other varieties, they give us a little more control over the sweetness in our recipe. Although not entirely obvious, the “semi” actually refers to cocoa or cacao content, which is typically about 35% to 65% cocoa solids, meaning they are a form of dark chocolate.

How Do I Store These Cookie Bars?

Wait for your cookie bars to cool completely before storing. They may be stored in their baking dish tightly covered with aluminum foil if you plan for them to be eaten within a few days.Bar cookies that have been cut and removed from the dish should be stored in an airtight container. If you need to multi-layer them in a container, separate the bars with waxed paper in between the layers.

Can I Freeze These Cookie Bars?

Yes. Baked cookie bars freeze well for up to 3 months. After baking and cooled, cut into squares and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Pop them into the freezer for 30 mins, then place in a zippered plastic bag.

Alternatively, if you do not have the freezer space, you may place them directly from the dish into the zippered plastic bag, separated by wax paper slices.

 If you’re aiming to make a big batch ahead of time, make sure you thaw bars overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. 

Why Should I Avoid Over-Mixing My Dough

The reason we want to avoid over-mixing our dough is because over-mixing will introduce pockets of air into our cookie dough, which then will cause our dough to rise and then fall, leaving you with flat cookie bars.

What Goes Well With Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?

Whole Milk: There’s a reason that milk and cookies are a classic combo! And milk with a slice of a cookie bar is no different. It’s the ultimate creamy drink to really complement the richess and sweetness of these thick cookie bars.

Oat Milk: If you’re dairy-free, or simply looking for an alternative, oat milk is a great option that makes a wonderful pairing with chocolate. It has a nutty flavor, a thick texture, and mild sweetness. This makes it another perfect match that won’t overpower this rich and indulgent recipe.

Vanilla Ice Cream: A few scoops of light and creamy vanilla ice cream complements these cookie bars perfectly. The perfect time to combine these two is right after you pull these chewy chocolate chip cookie bars the oven, when the warm bars are still fragrant and gooey, allowing the ice cream to melt a little and swirl with the chocolate on top. Maybe even a drizzle of this great recipe for homemade healthier chocolate syrup. Yum!

How Do I Prevent My Cookie Bars From Burning?

There are a few mishaps that could result in burnt cookie bars, but thankfully you can prevent some common mistakes so that your batch doesn’t go to waste.

Your oven is too hot.
Make sure you are using the correct oven temperature. An oven that is too hot warms up the edges of your dish first. Check your bars regularly towards the end of your baking time. Since ovens can vary in temperature, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your cookie bars within 5-10mins of their cooking time. To get the most even bake, use the middle rack.

You’re not watching the timer.  
Time is everything, and losing track of your cook time could cause you to forget about your dish! Make sure you set a timer and keep it close so that you will be able to hear it when it buzzes.

The color of your baking dish.
The darker the color, the more it may contribute to the heat of your dish. This is generally fine with cookie bars, since you are using a dish and not a cookie sheet, but you may still want to pay special attention nearing the end of their bake time.

Remember to use parchment paper so there is a barrier between your dough and your dish!   Not only will omitting it mean the dough will stick to your baking dish, but it has a higher chance of burning as well.

What’s The Difference Between Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chip Bars

In a lot of ways, cookie bars are easier and faster to make. This makes them the perfect last-minute dessert recipe vs. their just as good, but more time-consuming cousin.

Cookie bars have a heavier quality to them, less soft and often thicker than chocolate chip cookies. Because the dough is poured and evenly pressed into the baking dish, it packs a much richer and more dense texture.  
 
A chocolate chip cookie recipes are slightly more time consuming as you are taking the cookie dough and scooping each individual cookie onto a pan, vs. the cookie bar, which is all spread into a dish and ready to bake. Because cookie bars are more dense in texture, youc can leave them in their dish to cool after baking, vs. a cookie that should be moved to a wire rack.To save a little time, it’s nice to know that most drop cookies can also be made into cookie bars easily without changing a thing besides cook time,

I Don’t Have Any Soft White Wheat Flour. Can I Use Hard White Wheat Flour Instead?

Hard white wheat flour is not a substitute for soft white wheat flour.This is because hard wheat has a higher gluten and protein content. Soft wheat flour, flour using soft wheat berries, are a great bit lower in gluten and higher in starch. Less gluten and more starch means this flour will have a much smoother and finer finish than hard flours. Which in turn makes it a great choice for cakes, pastries, desserts and light sauces.