Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars — A buttery shortbread crust topped with a creamy, buttery topping that’s almost like custard!! The bars live up to their gooey, buttery name!!
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookie Bars
“Let’s see how much butter I can cram into an 8×8-inch pan” was what I was thinking when I made the bars. The more butter, the merrier. Just a half pound, no biggie.
These gooey chocolate chip cookie bars have a buttery soft shortbread crust and are topped with a gooey, creamy, buttery topping that’s studded with chocolate chips.
It’s soft, luscious, and just melts in your mouth. It reminds me of the inside of a custard-filled donut that’s squishy and wonderful. The texture contrast between the lighter filling and the heartier crust is fabulous.
I used the same crust I’ve used for these Tagalongs Cookie Bars and these Lemon Bars. One tablespoon of cornstarch helps the crust from turning overly crunchy and helps to minimize cracking and crumbling when you slice these buttery babies that live up to their gooey, buttery name.
What’s in the Gooey Shortbread Bars?
To make the chocolate chip shortbread cookie bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Light corn syrup
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
How to Make Gooey Shortbread Bars
First, make the shortbread crust. Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until combined.
Press the dough into the bottom of an 8×8-inch pan. Bake until the crust is just set, but not yet golden.
While the crust bakes, make the gooey butter filling. In the same bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs, followed by the remaining ingredients. Fold the chocolate chips in last.
Turn the filling over the crust, then sprinkle with additional chocolate chips. Return the bars to the oven to finish baking.
Can I Double This Recipe?
I imagine so, yes. Double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan. Note that these bars are very rich, so a pan that size will make about 24 servings.
Tips for Making Gooey Shortbread Bars
I used mini chocolate chips because they stay suspended in the filling better than regular size and there’s a better chocolate ratio in every bite. But use regular chocolate chips, if that’s what you have.
Note that this recipe calls for light colored corn syrup and not lite (i.e. lower sugar) corn syrup.
These bars freeze really well, or they’ll last about a week at room temperature.
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Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very soft
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, plus about 2 tablespoons for sprinkling over the top (mini chips highly recommended although regular sized chips may be substituted if absolutely necessary)
Instructions
Shortbread Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric mixer), add all ingredients and beat on low speed until combined and a dough forms, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Turn dough out into prepared pan in an even, smooth, flat layer, using a spatula or your fingers to smooth it.
- Pierce crust with a fork in a dozen places so steam can escape while it bakes.
- Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until crust has just barely set. It should not be golden or browned and should still be white, but crusted over and set.
- While crust bakes, make the filling.
Filling:
- To a small bowl, add the corn syrup, water, vanilla, and stir to combine; set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric mixer; the same bowl you already used is fine, just wipe it out with a paper towel), add the butter, sugar, salt, and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add half the flour, half the corn syrup and water, and beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the remaining flour, remaining corn syrup and water, and beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the chocolate chips and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Turn filling out over crust (I didn’t wait for crust to cool) in an even, smooth, flat layer, using a spatula to smooth it.
- Evenly sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 23 to 25 minutes, or until edges have set, the center is mostly set (some jiggle is fine), and the top has a few light golden brown spots. Don’t overbake or they won’t be as gooey.
- Allow bars to cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Really interesting recipe! They look pretty darn good… you may have set your own personal record for butter! Hope you, Skylar, and your husband are having a good holiday season. Just curious, are you still running? I remembered that a while back you used to mention whatever exercising you had been up to. They were interesting anecdotes :)
Yes I still run a ton! It’s my form of relaxation and escape from the world :)
I don’ t see where to add the vanilla in the filling . . . is it after the eggs?
Thanks for the catch- I updated the recipe. It’s with the corn syrup and water.
Gooey butter. Chocolate chip. Shortbread bars. I keep on reviewing that stream of words for a weak link, but there is none. It’s all goodness. I love these bars, Averie!! I am a huge fan of gooey butter cake and of chocolate chip cookies and shortbread and it looks like they are all present and accounted for here!
Yummmm!
Mini choc chips are the cutest and these look the yummiest!
You’ve done it again Averie :)
Pretty sure I could devour that entire 10″ right about now! Hot fudge on a cookie!!! Thank You!
You are the queen of bar cookies…I love how you always have them cut into such perfect squares and you always seem to capture how gooey they are…These look so good. I had some really bad shortbread over the holiday but these could remedy that memory for me.
Thanks for the compliments on my slicing technique :) And yes, these would totally remedy that bad shortbread you had!
Averie!!!! These look SO good. We recently made a gooey butter cake for the first time. It’s a little different than this, but I’ll have to say I’m fan of all gooey butter desserts now. I’m sure I’d love these!
I’d die for a slice of your gooey butter cake! Want.it.now. We should both make gooey butter desserts and then swap at our next event :)
Mmm, yummy. I love all things shortbread-ey. And chocolatey.
These bars look incredible! I need them in my life asap!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com
The more butter, the merrier — this is so, so true. These bars look wonderful, I can’t wait to sink my teeth in them.
Yum! I love bars with a gooey filling and then the firmer bite of crust! Thanks for posting these while we still have a couple days left of December, where butter is king. In January, I’d have to feel just a little guilty.
Those were my sentiments exactly!
Oh my gosh. These are fabulous, as usual. The more butter is certainly better, that’s for sure!!
I thought of you the whole time I was making, editing, writing about these, etc. because you are the gooey bar queen!
Oh my gosh, they look SO chewy! I don’t care that the holidays are nearly over, I’m so ready to sink my teeth into these beauties!
Mini chocolate chips are like little formidable champions. Their flavor gets everywhere and it’s just so good!
I’m all about butter bars with a crust. Shortbread rules my world!
I love mini chips too for that very reason!
amazingly pretty and yummy looking..
I can’t even imagine how incredible these are! The filling is intriguing–I don’t think I’ve come across anything like it. At first I thought it might be similar to a sugar cream pie type of filling but saw there wasn’t any milk or cream. Must be the magic of butter….swoon!!
I think it’s the magic of butter! It’s custard-ish but not as heavy. It’s really light and airy and gooey! It was so good contrasted with the crust!