December 4, 2019
Chocolate Box Cookie Bars!
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Easy and delicious chocolate box cookie bars – your favourite chocolates, in cookie traybake form!
Leftover chocolates
Right.. roll with me here. Leftover chocolates DO EXIST. No doubt when I post this recipe, I will get comments saying “leftover chocolates?! what are they?!” as everyone thinks they are being funny… but in all honesty, nearly every house will have them.
Over a period like christmas, and easy and common gift is a box of chocolates. And if you are like me, and you get given a whole lot of chocolates such as Celebrations, Heroes, Roses and so on… you will have far too many to eat.
It’s not so bad for a big family, and a family that don’t receive too many chocolates… but I always get given loads. Whether they are gifted from companies because of my blog, presents from friends or family, or me buying another box as I was ‘spontaneous’.. I have too many.
Chocolate box cookie bars
When you have over SEVEN tubs of chocolates, it’s just too many. Therefore, the easiest thing to do is to shove them all in a bake! Whether its a no-bake treat such as rocky road, or something like this.. it’s a much easier way of using them up, and being able to give them away!
I love putting chocolates into a bake as I often prefer them that way – I don’t often eat chocolates on their own as I have so much sweetness in my life already, and I feel like giving away a box of chocolates you got given yourself is a bit odd…
Recipe
For these, I used my regular and favourite cookie bar recipe that you can find in my other ones, such as my oh-so-popular mini egg cookie bars for example. You just take out the chocolates featured in that recipe, such as the Mini Eggs, and replace it with chocolates!
Cookie dough
If you fancied making this, but making it a chocolate cookie dough… take out 30g of the flour, and 1/2tbsp of cornflour, and add in 30g of cocoa powder instead! Both ways are utterly delicious!
Cornflour
Cookie bars as I will say again and again are delightful. The cornflour IS IMPORTANT TO THE BAKE. It changes the texture, changes the bake, and improves them tenfold. This is why cornflour is in a lot of my cookie recipes, so please don’t leave it out!
Tips and tricks!
The good thing about this, is you can use all of the chocolates in the box, use up the ones you don’t like if you are giving the cookie bars away, or use the ones you do like but if you fancy something a bit different!
This recipe is also great to use after christmas when you are a little fed up with all the food, as you can make the cookie bars and freeze them! You can defrost some when you fancy a cookie! Or, you can make up the cookie dough, and bake them as you please!
You can see from the photos that they are a tasty bake, with all the different chocolates poking through! If you use a lot of chocolates that have a runny centre such as Quality Street caramels, I would recommend freezing them before baking, but if you are using a large combination such as I have, I generally don’t bother!
These really are such an adaptable and utterly SCRUMPTIOUS bake – They are a great bake for all sorts of occasions, and also a great way to use up all that ~leftover~ chocolate that DOES ACTUALLY EXIST!!! Enjoy! x
Chocolate Box Cookie Bars!
Ingredients
- 275 g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt optional!
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 115 g unsalted butter
- 55 g granulated sugar
- 135 g light brown sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g milk chocolate chips
- 300-400 g chocolate box chocolates (I used Celebrations!)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190C/170C Fan and line a 9x9inch square tin with parchment paper, and leave to the side for now.
- Whisk/Mix the plain flour, bicarbonate, salt (if you are using) and cornflour together so its evenly distributed – leave to the side.
- In a larger bowl, melt the butter. Add in the two sugars, and whisk for about 2 minutes so the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture is smooth.
- Add in the egg and the vanilla, and whisk again briefly until smooth. (I used an electric whisk)
- Add in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips and mix with a spatula until a thick cookie dough is formed.
- Finally, add in the chocolates! I don't chop mine up. Fold through the mixture as best you can!
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin and bake the traybake in the oven for 18-22 minutes, until the top of the cookie bake looks ‘dry’!
- Leave the cookie bake to cool for about 10 minutes, then leave to cool fully on a wire rack. Cut the bake into 4×4 for decent sizes, or 5×5 for smaller ones! Enjoy!
Notes
- I used Celebrations as I bought SO many. I used all of them, as I'm not fussy when it comes to Celebrations.. but use your favourites if they're for you! Or even use up the ones you don't like and give them away!
- You can easily use others such as Heroes, Roses, Quality street and so on - however, if you are using a lot of soft centre ones, I would recommend freezing them first.
- These delicious beings will last in an airtight container for up to 5 days, but honestly, they’ll be eaten before then.
- Try microwaving them when they’ve cooled if you want a gooey cookie, or even add a scoop of ice cream!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi I have done these and amazing, I put some in the freezer and now want them so do you just let them defrost and eat or do you put in oven for a bit again x
oh yummy! I reheat mine in either the microwave or oven! Hope this helps! x
Thank you for this recipe.
My husband had been given a Rolo easter egg and we had been given a box of Celebrations and he doesn’t like milk chocolate so I wanted a recipe to use them and take to work to share with my colleagues. This recipe is perfect. I used broken bits of the Rolo egg instead of the chocolate chips and added the Rolos in with the Celebrations. A combo of your Rolo Cookie bar and this recipe. I found a great online converter to scale up the recipe for my 8 X 13.5 inch traybake tin. It is also great to have a recipe that uses cornflour. The box in my baking cupboard doesn’t get used much, except for thickening sauces.
I had to bake them for 28 mins at fan 170, possibly because of the bigger tin. They have now cooled in the tin for 10 mins and I have put them on the cooling rack and cut them into bars and they are perfectly firm and a bit crispy in a good way on the outside but gooey in the centre – yum! I am trying to resist eating one before I take them into work tomorrow. I did sample a bit that broke off.
I’m going to use this recipe but do I have to add the other chocolate? I’m just looking to do cookie bar as dippers
Hi Jane
I put in 1 tsp of baking powder instead of bicarbonate of soda ahhh.
How bad will it be, feeling like I’ve wasted a ton of chocolate?
Thanks I was gifted a 2kg box of celebrations after an operation that required me to be sedentary for a while….. so not a good idea!!!! Even after Christmas we still had loads so making these to give the bars away!!!! came out perfect . Thank you!
Can you make a butterscotch chips cookie bar recipe please?
Hi Jane, Can I use chocolate Revels in this recipe? Thanks! x
Hello! Yes its worth a go!x
Could you use baking powder or does it have to be bicarb? x
Hiii! Ideally bicarb should be used, but you could use 1tsp of baking powder instead!x
Hi Jane!
Would I be able to use this recipe as a base for all my cookie bars and just add 400g of any chopped chocolate eg maltesers, crunchie, smarties?
Thanks xx
Basically yes – although some chocolates wont work well or the same depending on what they are made of! x
Hi Jane
Would I be able to split this into 2 7” tins?
Thanks for all the awesome recipes x
Yep! x
Absolutely Amazing recipe. They are delicious will definitely make them again!
Absolutely love all your cookir bar recipes! At the moment I only have golden granulated sugar as my online shopping got subbed! Can I use this x
Hi can these be frozen
Absolutely! You can freeze these for up to 3 months. Hope this helps! x
Hello, do I need to chop up the chocolate box chocolates for this bake – if i use celebrations/heros/roses?xx
I didn’t bother!
If anyone is having issues with their cookies drying out, try baking at 175C (conventional) for 17-20 minutes – works a dream! Thanks for this amazing recipe 🙂
I know that you posted this comment a long while ago now, but I wanted to say thank you for the tip. I’ve had two attempts at the recipe and found my cookie bars to be too dry. Next time I’ll be sure to follow your advice!
Hi Jane, can marshmallows be added into this recipe? If so what would you recommend! Thank you, Lizzie
Marshmallows can cause a problem as they do often just melt and dissolve, so on my s’mores cookie bars I use marshmallow fluff. x
Hi Jane! I’ve tried your kinder cookie bars before – tasted delicious but didn’t have that gooey centre I was aiming for. Suspect my oven’s running too hot, do you think it would be worth reducing the temperature and/or bake time?
It could likely be both – your oven may have been on the wrong setting, or too hot, and or over baked! It would be worth trying to find what works best for your oven by reducing either or both!
Delicious!!!
These were a really hit with the family 😁 thankyou for the great recipe 👍🏻
Hi, would I need to increase the ingredients if using an 8 x 12 inch tray?
Thanks
I would add about 1/4 more personally – and use a large egg x
Im going to try this tomorrow but Im going to use one of your brownie bases instead of the cookie 🙂
Hi Jane, absolutely loving your blog!! Everything I’ve tried has come out perfectly!! Thank you so so much.
I was just wondering if you have ever tried freezing the cookie bars, not just these but any? Did they turn out okay once defrosted? 😀
Hey! Yes they can all be frozen!! And thank you!! x
Hi Jane
I tried the recipe as stated but my end dough formed crumbly and when i baked it it didnt smooth out it just stayed rocky looking and it was dry to taste , not chewy and gooey, i have no idea where i went wrong even tho i followed recipe throughout ? Please advise.
How did you mix it? the mixture is reasonably dry, but does come together when mixed correctly (Watch some of my cookie bar videos as the recipe is the same) – it’s also worth making sure you are using the correct ingredients, the correct tin, and measuring correctly!
Hi.
I’m just wondering, I don’t have any sea salt so would I just leave out or replace it with table salt?
I would use a pinch of table salt! X
Hey 🙂 can I use dark soft brown sugar instead it’s all I can get a hold of? Xxx
Yes you can! Or just all white granulated works well too! x
Hi do you completely melt the butter or shall i just leave it out to soften?
Completely melted!
Hi Love this recipe. I think your blog is fab. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on unsalted butter v cooking marg (stork or supermarket own) and tub v block. Do you think it makes much of a difference xxxxx
Hiya! For this recipe, I use unsalted blocks, or stock tub! x
These look so so good! I’m dying to try them. I was wondering is there any way an egg can be substituted in your recipe here? Sorry for asking. Thank you so much
The only alternative I’ve tried is the flax seed one which worked well!
Ooo I never knew about that! Is it on your blog? Trying out as many vegan recipes as possible for my little boy who is dairy soya and egg free!
It’s not yet I’m afraid!! I will be posting more vegan recipes over the next few months but not quite yet!! So you mix one tablespoon of flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water to replace one egg!
Hi Jane, I was looking for some advice, I tried making these first time they came out great however on the 2nd attempt the taste of the baking soda came through really strong, not sure what went wrong, followed the amount specified in the recipe I was wondering if you have ever had this issue? thanks
That can happen when too much is put in, or it’s not mixed in very well so there will be more in some areas than their should be – the measure should be level, and definitely not more than recommended, and make sure to mix it in really well!
I love using your recipes as they are all delicious and they have all turned out really well! I can’t access any light brown sugar at the moment so what would you recommend instead?
Thank you! I would use white granulated sugar!!
Wow my first try of cookie bars yesterday and they are a huge hit once i got all the ingredients in the tray i thought this is never going to work but watching the mahic happen through the oven glass was amazing.
Hi can you substitute the butter for margarine in this? I did half of each and it turned out like a cake unfortunately. Thanks
I’ve made them using both and they’ve been fine with both. If it’s cakey it’s probably over baked or something else has been substituted as well.
Oh I see thanks for letting me know. I also didn’t use brown sugar and the butter wasn’t unsalted, could it have been either of these? Thanks !
What sugar did you use as the alternative?
These look great ! I’m struggling to get chocolate chips at the moment so was thinking of doing just an assortment of chocolate bars I have already would that be ok ? And just chop them up ? Eg Kit Kat’s , milkyway , crunchies etc! If so would you still say the do the 100g plus the 300-400g ? Thanks in advance
Hey! Yes so for any recipe requiring chocolate chips you can easily chop up a basic chocolate bar into chip size! And then yes, you can use any sweet on top!
Could I use one large egg? Xx
Yes!!
Hello,
These really do taste amazing. If I was going to cook in a 12x7inch baking tin should I double the recipe?
A 12″x7″ tin is actually the same volume as the 9×9″, so should work as it already is!
Just baked these and they came out great! it took a few attempts to start them as I didn’t read the recipe through properly first and every time I went to start I was missing something aha, but it was certainly worth the wait. Thank you
Hi, I made this earlier with my fan oven I cooked for 20 minutes on 150 as every time I baked the cookie on 170 it’s always dry inside. The cookie was perfectly soft & gooey after baking on 150. Just wanted to check this is ok to eat though? Would the eggs have had enough time to cook. Thanks
Its probably that your oven is running hotter than you think so thats why it drys out at the hotter temp – but yes they will still be edible!! x
hi Jane,
would I be able to use baking powder instead of bicarb of soda for these? I’m not actually sure what the different is (oops)?! Thanks
They are different products, and react to different ingredients to make it work. Bicarbonate is roughly 3-4x stronger than baking powder so they aren’t a straight swap, and also swapping isn’t going to guarantee the same results. You can use 1tsp baking powder maybe, but again it may not be quite the same x
Such a great recipe! I’ve used it a few times now and it’s actually foolproof! You can use all sorts of different chocolates and they always taste delicious! Thankyou so much!
Yesss exactly! So glad you liked them!
Honestly incredible, one of the best things I’ve baked in a long time.
Jane I’ve just made these for my work Christmas lunch. They smell delicious and I’m sure they’ll go down a treat xx
Ahh yay! I hope everyone likes them!
Love your cookie bar recipes. Will definitely be giving these a go! X