Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark

Last Christmas my brother and sister-in-law sent me a gift package of cookies from Tate’s Bake Shop. Tucked inside was a package of their delicious thin and crispy Cookie Bark, and after the first bite I knew I’d have to recreate it at home.

And here we are!

This homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark has everything I loved about the original. The buttery chocolate chip cookie base is baked thin and crisp, then topped with the perfect layer of melted dark chocolate and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Break it into rustic pieces and watch it disappear!

What you’ll need to make Cookie Bark

• Unsalted Butter – melted and cooled slightly
• Cake Flour – using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour makes the cookie portion lighter with a crumbly texture that melts in your mouth.
• Table Salt – for the cookie dough
• Baking Soda
• Granulated Sugar
• Dark Brown Sugar – or you can use light brown sugar
• Egg Yolks – save the whites for breakfast!
• Vanilla Extract
• Mini semisweet chocolate chips – for adding to the cookie dough
• Good quality Dark Chocolate – chopped for the topping. You can use dark chocolate chips in a pinch but bar chocolate is so much better. I’ve tested both.
• Sea Salt – for sprinkling on top

How to make Crispy Cookie Bark

Making cookie bark is even easier than baking a batch of cookies—no scooping or shaping required!

1. Make the cookie dough. Prepare the buttery cookie dough and fold in the mini semisweet chocolate chips.

2. Spread and bake. Using lightly moistened hands, press the dough into a thin, even layer on the prepared baking pan. Bake until dark golden brown and crisp.

3. Add the chocolate. Once baked, remove from the oven and immediately spread chopped dark chocolate evenly over the top. Set aside until the chocolate is melted and soft. Spread to cover in a thin layer.

4. Finish with sea salt. Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the slightly set chocolate.

5. Cool and break into pieces. Allow the chocolate to set completely, then break or cut the cookie into rustic pieces. No two pieces have to be the same. That’s part of the fun!

Tips for the Best Cookie Bark

Bake it until dark golden brown. This isn’t the time to pull the cookie out when it’s pale and soft in the middle. A deeper golden-brown color gives the bark that wonderfully crisp, snappy texture.

Use mini semisweet chocolate chips. Mini chips distribute throughout the thin cookie layer much better than regular chocolate chips. You get little bits of chocolate in every bite without weighing down the cookie.

Use good-quality dark chocolate for the topping. I prefer chopping a good dark chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips. Bar chocolate melts beautifully and creates a smooth, rich topping that balances the sweet cookie base.

Don’t skip the sea salt! That little sprinkling of flaky sea salt may seem optional, but I highly recommend it. Sweet and salty are just so good together, especially when chocolate is involved.

Let it cool completely. Give the chocolate plenty of time to set before breaking the cookie into pieces. For neat pieces you can cut it, but I love the rustic look of simply breaking it apart.

Cookie Bark Variations

Once you have the basic recipe down, there are all kinds of ways to make it your own.

For a milk chocolate version, swap the dark chocolate topping for good-quality milk chocolate. It will be sweeter, so definitely keep that flaky sea salt on top.

Try white chocolate and cranberry for the holidays by topping the cookie bark with melted white chocolate and finely chopped dried cranberries.

For chocolate pecan cookie bark, sprinkle toasted chopped pecans over the melted chocolate before it sets. Walnuts, almonds or pistachios would also be delicious.

Make a toffee version with finely chopped toffee bits in place of the mini chocolate chip. Chocolate, buttery cookie and crunchy toffee sounds pretty irresistible to me!

You can also add a festive touch with holiday sprinkles along with the sea salt. This is an easy way to dress up the bark for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or just about any celebration.