Mint Chocolate Chip Bars

5 from 1 vote

Chewy Mint Chocolate Chip Bars packed with cocoa, chocolate chips, and minty bites. The best easy dessert for holidays, gifting, or anytime baking cravings hit.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Chill1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

1 cup butter
1½ cups white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
¼ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup chocolate mint baking chips or chopped chocolate mint bars
¾ cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 by 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix until just combined.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate mint chips and chocolate chips by hand.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
Let the bars cool to room temperature, then transfer the pan to the fridge and chill for 1 hour before slicing and serving

Notes

Cream the butter and sugar fully. Don’t rush this step, you want the mixture pale and fluffy so the bars bake up thicker and chewier instead of dense.
Use room-temperature eggs. They mix in more smoothly and help the batter come together without overworking it. Cold eggs can make the butter seize.
Mix the dry ingredients separately. This keeps the cocoa, baking soda, and salt evenly distributed so you don’t end up with pockets of bitterness or flat spots.
Don’t overmix once the flour goes in. As soon as the streaks disappear, you’re done. Overmixing activates gluten and can make the bars tough instead of soft and fudgy.
Fold the chocolate in by hand. A mixer can break the chips and overwork the batter. Folding keeps everything evenly studded with chocolatey mint goodness.
Line your pan with parchment. Leave a little overhang so you can lift the bars out cleanly. It makes slicing WAY easier and gives perfect, bakery-level edges.
Slightly underbake for gooey centers. Pull them when a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. They’ll finish setting as they cool and stay wonderfully chewy.
Chill before slicing. This is the secret to clean, gorgeous bar cuts. Cooling firms the chocolate and helps the texture finish developing.
Customize your chocolate. Use chopped mint chocolate bars, Andes mints, dark chocolate chunks… these bars are super flexible. Mint + chocolate = no wrong answers.
Serve at room temp for peak chewy magic. Cold bars are firmer; room-temp bars are soft, melty, and basically irresistible.

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