Sweet and full of chocolate chips, these oatmeal bars are like a giant chewy oat cookie baked in a pan. This recipe is one-bowl easy and great for those days when you don't feel like making individual cookies. They're ready in 45 minutes and can be frozen.
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Making pan or bar cookies is way faster than baking individual cookies.
It takes the same time to make the dough but you have it patted in the pan and ready to bake in a minute.
This is how this recipe came to be: I was lazy to scoop and bake batches of cookies, so I patted the whole thing in a square pan, and waited half an hour while it baked.
What emerged was a soft and chewy oatmeal cookie bar, sweet and delicious, a recipe I knew I had to share after a few tweaks.
It's a close relative to the chocolate chip walnut cookies, the carmelitas bars, and the chocolate chip oatmeal muffins.
Ingredients
- Chocolate chips: use your favorite semisweet chip. I love Ghirardelli premium baking chocolate chips, Callebaut 54% chocolate wafers, and Nestle toll house semisweet chips.
- Oats: I use old-fashioned rolled oats (traditional oats) because they have more texture, but you can use instant or quick-cooking oats.
- Brown sugar: light or dark.
- White granulated sugar.
- Egg: fresh, large.
- Unsalted butter.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper.
- All-purpose or cake flour.
- Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
- Baking powder and baking soda: make sure they aren't expired.
See the recipe card towards the end of this post for quantities.
Variations & substitutions
- Different chocolates: milk chocolate chips and white chips can be used. Substitute half of the dark chocolate chips for any of them or a mix of both. The bars will be sweeter.
- Chunks: use larger pieces of chocolate instead of chips. You can buy chocolate chunks or cut them yourself from a block of chocolate with a kitchen knife.
- Flavorings: use orange zest or a spice (like cinnamon) in the batter.
- Boozy: add a tablespoon of liqueur like amaretto (almond), Frangelico (hazelnut), Kahlua (coffee), or Cointreau or Grand Marnier (orange.
How to make oatmeal bars
Make sure the butter is soft enough to be mixed with a whisk. You can use an electric mixer for this step.
When you start to add the dry ingredients and chips, switch to a silicon spatura for easier mixing.
Dump the cookie dough in the pan and pat it out evenly. The parchment paper will help remove the block of chocolate chip bars after they're baked and cooled.
Type of oats to use
There are 2 types of oats good for making oatmeal bar cookies:
- Rolled oats - also called traditional or old-fashioned oats, are medium-sized and shaped like irregular discs. It's the one in the box we grew up with that is used to make porridge, the best granola recipe, and oatmeal muffins. This is the most commonly used oat and a sure way to get good results.
- Instant oats - also known as quick oats, are more processed than the ones above. I find that they lack enough texture, but you can use them, of course, the bars will turn out great.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperatures, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Storage: they keep for a few days at room temperature, always covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container or tin. You can also freeze them for a month. Let come to room temperature and warm slightly before eating.
Related recipes you might like:
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Butter or spray an 8-inch square baking pan.
- You can line it with a piece of parchment paper, covering the pan's bottom and two long sides. The two short sides will remain unlined but greased. This will help you remove the bars from the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl beat butter with both sugars for a minute.
- Add the egg and incorporate well until you have a creamy mixture.
- Add the vanilla and mix.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add them to the butter mixture in 2 parts, mixing with a silicon spatula until combined.
- Add the oats and incorporate well. It might take a minute or two.
- Lastly, add the chocolate chips and mix to distribute well throughout the dough.
- Pat the cookie dough in the prepared pan, even it out.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until it’s slightly puffed, the top is dry and golden brown, but the center is still a little soft. Don’t let it firm up completely or the bars will be on the dry side.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
- Run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges to loosen up any bit that might be stuck, and lift the whole block with the help of the paper.
- Store leftovers covered in plastic wrap or airtight container.
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