Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars


Sometimes I just enjoy a really good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

Do you?

I love the combination of oats and chocolate... but sometimes I'm lazy.  So, I decided to try my favorite cookie recipe as a bar just because I didn't feel like scooping out all those cookies.


I ended up loving them as a bar, and still had enough dough left over to freeze 10 cookies for later.


The best of both worlds. If you ask me.



Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars - Adapted from Mom {and Quaker Oats}
{Print Recipe}

3/4 C butter
1 C brown sugar {I use just under 1 C}
1/2 C sugar {I use just under 1/2 C}
1 egg
1/4 C water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C white wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 C Old Fashioned Oats
1 C Dark Chocolate Chips

Begin by creaming together the butter and sugar. Then add in the egg, water and vanilla.


Stir the flour, salt and baking soda together. Add these to the moist ingredients until blended.

Then, add the best part... the oats.


:)


Stir until oats are combined.


Next, add in the dark chocolate chips.


Have I mentioned before that I love dark chocolate?

You should see my chocolate drawer.


Pour the majority of the dough into a lightly greased 9x13 glass baking dish.

To smooth out the dough, you'll need to spray your spatula (or hand) with cooking oil otherwise the dough will stick.


Scoop the rest of the dough into cookies, if you'd like, and flash freeze on the cookie sheet for 10-20 minutes. Then, store in an airtight bag or freezer-safe container. These make a perfect after school treat :)

Bake at 350 for 30ish minutes, or until edges begin to brown and the center is set.


Slice and serve.


If you wish to bake them all as cookies, this recipe yields about 5 dozen cookies. Bake a tray of them at 350 for 12-14 minutes until the edges are set and slightly browned.

Enjoy!


Photobucket

17 comments:

  1. I like these better as a bar too but I forget to do that! They sound delicious! Thanks!

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  2. Great Idea, I love cookies as well, but sometimes the sheer amount of effort they take can be time consuming, I never thought of cooking them as a bar, genius.

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  3. Oooohhhh.. I'd like two now please!!! YUM!

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  4. Mmmm! Oatmeal, chocolate, 'nuff said! They look really good. I need to stop reading food blogs before breakfast - I'll be obsessing about these all.day.long. :)

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  5. I don't think they is any way around it.. I HAVE to make these =)
    I know my kids would love them. Thanks for posting!!

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  6. I love oatmeal cookies.

    I've never frozen cookies before. How do you wrap and store them? Also, how do you defrost them before baking?

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  7. These sound so good! I love the combo of oatmeal and chocolate.

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  8. I'm super excited about these as I too, love choc chip oatmeal cookies, but am also lazy!! :-)

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  9. oh yummy! My 3 year old baking sidekick will really enjoy making these with me!

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  10. I love oats! I bake with them all the time! But I have a question today - what kind of chocolate chips do you use? Almost every bag I ever find has the "may contain traces of nuts" sort of warning. Unless it's a special allergy-free one that is expensive. I am new to the nut allergy scene, and I am missing this baking ingredient so much!!!

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  11. @ Jess --

    Thanks for stopping by! I'm sorry that you too have a nut allergy in the family :(

    In my own research, Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips are my go-to chocolate chip. I'd recommend calling the company just to make sure those packaged in your area are okay too, but they are okay for me. Store brands and Nestle are off limits for me. I've also tried the Enjoy Life brand, and those work well too -- if you go that route, buy in bulk online (they're cheaper than in my grocery store).

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  12. I looove cookies and often freeze mine too!! I know it sounds lazy, but one of the things I especially like about bar cookies it that you can pour the whole thing into a pan and bake it all at once instead of monitoring the oven and scooping out the dough. I am a huge fan of your site!

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  13. I made these yesterday (love when a recipe pops up that I already have ingredients to!) and they were yummy! I like that they are 100% whole grain. I brought them to a church class, and all that was left afterward were the chunks and crumbs that fell off as the bars were served. (And I ate the bigger chunks afterward!)

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  14. P.S. By the way, mine took about 40 minutes to cook, for whatever reason.

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  15. Hello there Snow White! I am so excited to try this recipe....my mouth is watering already...My kids will thank you as well...I am thinking this sounds like a yummy breakfast treat!

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  16. these are in my oven now! :D WOOTWOOT! Trying lots of your recipes this week!

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.