Sourdough Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
These sourdough peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars are all your favorite cookies rolled into big, fat, chunky cookie bar squares! Peanut butter, chewy oats, and melty chocolate chips are loaded in a 9x13 pan. If you love a fat, chewy cookie, these cookie bars are for you.
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter melted
- 1½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup sourdough discard
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups quick oats
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a 9x13 glass baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add melted butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and combine. Add eggs, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Add peanut butter, salt, and baking soda. Mix well and scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Add flour and oats and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. The batter will be very thick so mix well and make sure you incorporate all the dough from the bottom of the bowl using a spatula.
- Scoop batter into parchment lined baked pan and spread evenly with a spatula. It will be thick so take your time, making sure to press it to the edges and corners. Sprinkle the top with a few additional chocolate chips and gently press them into the batter.
- Bake at 350℉ (180℃) for 28-32 minutes until golden brown all over, the edges are starting to crisp, and the middle is mostly set. Do not over-bake; the cookie bars will continue to set as they cool.
- Once cooled, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Batter - The batter for these sourdough cookie bars will be very thick so mix it well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Make sure you spread the batter evenly in the baking pan.
Peanut butter - I recommend using creamy peanut butter for this recipe. You can use crunchy if you wish but the cookie bars may be more dry.
Oats - You can use either quick oats or old-fashioned oats for this recipe. Either one will work, but quick oats will give you a soft, fluffier cookie bar while old-fashioned oats will yield a chewier, denser cookie bar.
Chocolate chips - I use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe but you can use mini semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips as well.
Baking - Just like when perfecting a chewy cookie, the key is to slightly underbake these cookie bars. It should be golden brown all over and the edges set with middle slightly underdone. It will continue to set as it cools so watch carefully that you don't over-bake. Add just a couple minutes at a time of extra baking when nearing the perfect golden brown.