These bars are like the lovechild of a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie!
Gooey, fudgy, rich, decadent, peanut buttery, chocolatey, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip brownie bars – I could go on with adjectives, but you really need to try them to understand!
This recipe was created to say thank you.
I found out last week that my book made the list of Amazon’s Top 20 Best Cookbooks Of 2015. Seeing my name included on that list when I opened the email was such a shock… I think I probably screamed… and maybe scared the neighbors… I can’t stop smiling… and still can’t believe it!!!
Please forgive me for mentioning the book again… there is no way I can keep this exciting news to myself! Making Amazon’s Top 20 Cookbooks of the year is by far one of the MOST exciting things to happen in all the time I’ve been blogging. And I can’t ever thank you enough.
Before the book came out, my publisher had warned me that because not everyone eats dessert, cookbooks with only desserts rarely sell as well as non-dessert books and that I should keep this in mind and not get my hopes up too far. Neither of us ever expected this amount of incredible success; we have been stunned at how many people have been buying the book.
It’s completely crazy!!!!
Words are failing me once again, and therefore I wish to express my thanks to you all in my usual favored way: through—what else?—dessert!
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog.
Thank you to everyone who has ever made one of the recipes or mentioned the site to a friend.
Thank you to everyone who has bought the book.
But mostly, thank you to everyone simply just for reading. I know full well it’s because of YOU that I’m able to do what I love every day, and I never want to take that for granted. I wish I could send a batch of chocolate chip brownie bars to each of you as a thank-you for making this all possible. Thank you again and again and again. Thank you, a million times over. ♥
Okay, brownie time!
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Adapted from Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Print This Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (almond flour, white, spelt, sorghum, oat, and Bob’s gf all work here)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup sugar or xylitol
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (mini are best, but regular will also work)
- optional chocolate chips for the top
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8×8 pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first 3 ingredients until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir. Only if it’s too dry after stirring to resemble a thick brownie batter, very slowly add a little milk of choice (or water) until the desired texture is reached. Smooth evenly into the prepared pan, then press in some extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. It will look a little undercooked, so do not touch the pan for at least 15 minutes. After this time, it will have firmed up and you can cut without crumbling. After a day, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for freshness.
Links Of The Day:
Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Cups, from the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
Cassie Tran says
Cannot wait to try making these! <3<3<3 They look so gooey–which I LOVE!
amanda says
You describe them as flourless, yet there is flour in the recipe?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Sorry, you are correct! (Although… if you did want to make them flourless, I can vouch for oat flour in this recipe, which is really just ground-up oats. And although I haven’t tried it, almond flour might also work.)
Jaimie says
If using gf flour, do I also need to add xantham gum?
Brooke says
Does the calorie count include the regular sugar?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
It is for the xylitol, but I used regular chocolate chips (not sugar-free) in calculations. If you want bars that are completely sugar-free, be sure to use sugar-free chocolate chips.
Katie says
Can I omit the baking soda?
Lisa B says
Congratulations on the book!!! I have it & have tried only 2 recipes and both were amazing!! These brownies look soooo yummy!!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much! 🙂
Nancy says
Hi Katie, I have enjoyed making several of the recipes in your book. Thanks for sharing your talents with the world! I have a couple of questions regarding the nutritional information you give. First, you show a yield of 16 brownies…I’m not sure how you would be able to cut that from an 8 x 8 pan of brownies…
Also, your nutrition information states it does not include the chocolate chips, yet these are not optional in your recipe (only on the top). Could you please shed some light on these questions? Thanks again for all you do!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Hi Nancy,
As mentioned in the nutrition link, it very much DOES include the chocolate chips. The bars in the photos were cut into 16 squares.
Nancy says
Hmmm, I guess I need to check my recipe software for accuracy because it gave me a nutritional breakdown on this recipe as 181 calories at 16 bite sized brownies per batch. Thanks for your speedy reply.
Andrea says
Actually I’ve gotten as many as 20 servings from that size pan before. If the brownies are really rich, you don’t need or even want a giant bar. And it’s not bite sized. Portions nowadays in restaurants are just needlessly way too big, when you could be satisfied from a much smaller amount.
Paula says
I made these tonight and they very easily cut into 16 squares — we each had one and as they were super rich, one was quite satisfying. I use sucanat (not xylitol) and homemade, raw applesauce and the calorie count was closer to 160, but still pretty reasonable.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for making them! 🙂
Iris says
Hi Katie,
Yeah on the book!! I do have a question about this amazing looking recipe.. you describe them as “Gooey, fudgy, rich, decadent, peanut buttery, chocolatey, FLOURLESS, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip brownie bars”.. yet the ingredients include “1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (white, spelt, sorghum, and Bob’s gf all work here)” with no option like almond flour to make them grain-free. Is there a way to keep them vegan and make them grain-free as well?
Thanks for all you share.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Sorry about that. I took that adjective out of the post. If you want to make them flourless, oat flour does work. I haven’t tried almond flour in this particular recipe, but I know readers have successfully used it in the zucchini bars this recipe is based off. So that looks favorably towards almond flour working here! 🙂
Iris says
thanks Katie.. think I could sub the applesauce for zucchini in this recipe? same amount of almond flour as listed for the others?
Kelly says
Is it really 1/12 tsp of baking soda? I’m guessing it’s just a typing error and you really meant 1 1/2 tsp but just wanted to make sure. Thanks!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Fixed! 🙂
Lisa Grenier says
Congratulations!!! I’m so thrilled for you with the success of your book! I make your recipes all the time and everyone I serve them to raves about them! I tell them about your blog and how creative and cute and funny you are! (I love your writing style almost as much as your recipes!) You are so gifted and I’m glad you get to do what you love! 🙂
Robynn says
Congrats Katie! I want to buy your book too, but I don’t have enough money as a high school student, so I’m asking it for Christmas! I love your blog, the recipes all are amazing 🙂
Andrea says
If you go to buy it for Christmas, look on amazon. I got my first one at Barnes and Nobles before realizing it’s like $5 less on amazon!
Robynn says
Yeah, I will, because I live in Europe 😉
Tamara says
These look so good! I’ve been subscribed for about a year and have never been brave enough to try making one of your recipes. I think I’ll try this one; it looks delicious!
RuthieM says
Congratulations to you, Katie! Yours is my all-time favorite dessert cookbook also! I am so glad that I found you because I cannot eat sugar at all because I get a yeast infection every time. I have a suggestion. Xylitol, to me, is quite granular. I put it in a medium-size, small mesh sieve and using a spoon, work it back and forth to make the granules smaller, then adding to the recipe. I have two questions for you, Katie! What brand of mini chips do you use or suggest for me? You mention in some of your recipes “UNCUT STEVIA.” What exactly is this and what brand do you suggest? Thank you!
anonymous says
I’m not Katie but I found this helpful https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/stevia-conversion-chart/
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Try EnjoyLife mini chips. Fair trade and vegan 🙂
meredith says
Katie thank you for making my all time favorite dessert cookbook. You deserve all your success. I recommend you to everyone. I bet I have made at least 30 of your recipes and my 2 boys love your desserts! Your recipes even inspire me to come up with my own. I will be making these brownies!!! Much love to you!
The Peirick Family
Amy says
We love you Katie!!! <3 big love coming all the way from NL, Canada!
Ivy says
Congratulations Katie! I only recently found your site and made a delicious chocolate chip cookie pie with white beans from your recipe. I did not know you had a book! Desserts are my vice! I will definitely be making this recipe and purchasing your book. Congrats again!
Kacy says
That is AMAZING. Congratulations, Katie!
Kindredly,
a Kacyful of Chocolate
Sprinkles of Sweetness says
Congratulations! You totally deserve all of your success, your recipes are amazing. I never knew there was such thing as a healthy dessert until I stumbled upon you blog. Thank you!
Joanna says
We love you and are so happy for your accomplishment!! You’ve made a lot of our lives easier so it’s not hard to see how much you deserve it!! Congrats!!
Nicole {VeganShowOff.com} says
Wow, I wish you could send me a batch of these chocolate chip brownie bars too! They look amazing and I’m drooling on my screen right now! Congrats on the cookbook success : )
Amanda says
These look so fudgy and delish! Great pictures. I. Can’t wait to try them.
Alpine Pedestrian says
What a great recipe to wake up to this morning! I made them for breakfast and ate 3. They are a breakfast food, right?!! They’re probably going to be my lunch, too, if I can keep the grandkids out of them. I used finely minced apple for the applesauce, because my daughter didn’t have any, which is probably why I ended up using about 1/4 C rice milk to get a brownie consistency in the batter. Great addition to my Katie Collection.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you so much for making them! I think you are the first! 🙂
Adriana says
All I can say is yummmm… I mean I haven’t tried them yet, but I totally want to eat my computer screen right now! (I can blame that on pregnancy though, right?) Anyway, congratulations to you and I can’t wait to to try these! 🙂
Bell Santiago says
These sound and look soo good, I’ve been looking for a new brownie recipe for ages! Will definitely try out.
Shannon says
Congrats on the success! I have the book and it awesome so I am not surprised 🙂
Am says
Wow!! So many congratulations!!!
Haha! I get like that, too, when I get exciting news!! I can’t keep it in and have to share! 😀 That is so awesome that your book is doing so well; you and your terrific cookbook both deserve it!! 😀
Oh, and the bars look really amazing! Can’t wait to make them!!! 🙂
Jay says
Congrats on your cookbook success! I love your recipes! Quick question, do you think you could substitute powered PB, like PB2 for the real peanut butter in order to lower the fat, or do you think that would change the consistency too much (Or maybe reconstitute it instead of using it dry)? Or maybe lower fat pb?
Hilary J says
I used 1/2 cup reconstituted PB2 and 1/2 peanut butter and it turned out really well.
Mallory Krauss says
Wait, not everyone eats dessert??? Who are these people? Congratulations on the book!
Kathryn says
Aw, Katie. You’re sweet. Congratulations!
nanabella says
What is the light colored thing in the brownie (middle bittom if picture) that looks like it may be a nut? Did you use crunchy peanut butter?
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Yup, crunchy… always! 🙂
JA says
We love you, Katie! After I bought the book, my mom couldn’t live without it, so she bought one, too!
Kathryn says
I’m currently sitting by the oven (literally), waiting for these to come out! The batter is delicious- I had to make myself stop sampling! I used homemade oat flour and unsweetened Silk cashew milk when it was too thick. I’m all out of applesauce, so I used pureed banana. I’ll let you know if it works!
What kind of flour did you use for the ones pictured? They look fantastic!
Congratulations on the Best of 2015 list! You and your book (and everyone who helped) deserve it!
Kathryn says
I have a verdict! The banana works beautifully is these! When they’re warm they have a little bit of a banana flavor (which is okay with me), but it probably goes away after they’ve cooled. I couldn’t wait to let them cool… They are amazing! And they even look just as good as yours do, Katie! Thank you! I’m gonna go have some more 😉
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Thank you for making them! I think the ones I photographed were a spelt-flour batch, but they might have been the oat-flour batch. Both looked pretty much the same 🙂