Gooey Malted Cookie Dough Chocolate Chunk Bars

This recipe goes out to anyone who prefers their cookies intensely gooey. “These are designed to have the texture of the center of an underbaked chocolate chunk cookie,” says food writer Ella Quittner in her cookbook, Obsessed With the Best. Made with malted milk powder, the bars are nostalgic yet rich and complex. Plus, they can be ready to eat in just under an hour and 30 minutes.

The trickiest bit is beating the butter and sugar until it becomes smooth, doubles in size, and resembles cake batter. After that, you’ll simply stir in the eggs, vanilla, and chopped chocolate. Rather than being scooped for cookies, the batter is spread into a square pan.

To ensure these chocolate chunk bars have the soft, sticky texture synonymous with cookie dough, the center has to remain ever so slightly molten. “Most people panic and think these are way too raw to remove from the oven, but that’s actually key to the recipe,” says Quittner. Once they’re chilled to room temperature, they should still be exceptionally gooey on the inside with crunchy, golden brown edges.

What is malted milk powder?

Malted milk powder is a combination of dried malt (germinated cereal grain), evaporated milk, wheat flour, and salt. It’s subtly sweet and has a nutty flavor that is delicious in milkshakes, pancakes, or simply stirred into milk. Two of the most well-known malted milk powder brands are Ovaltine and Nestle Carnation. At the grocery store, you can typically find it in the baking or beverage aisle, near the chocolate syrup. If you can’t source it locally, you can order it on Amazon instead.

What’s the best kind of chocolate to use?

For this recipe, Quittner suggests using a combination of milk and dark chocolate; the ratio “is totally dealer’s choice,” she says. “I like an even mix and I’ll also throw in some crunchy chocolate with toffee, crisped rice, or pretzel, but I genuinely use whatever I have in the pantry.” The shape of the chocolate doesn’t matter either — you can use chips, couvertures, or a chopped up bar.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• While the bars are designed to be eaten at room temperature or cold, if you’re hankering for a warm treat, Quittner says you can serve them as a scooped dessert “along the textural lines of sticky toffee pudding right out of the oven.”
• Smaller shards of chocolate will immediately melt into the batter. For more distinct pools of chocolate, chop them into large chunks.
• While chilling the batter overnight before baking isn’t necessary, it will result in even more chewiness and complexity. Cover the bowl of batter with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 72 hours, then bring it to room temperature before transferring it to the baking pan.