Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

One of my favorite desserts, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars have long been a part of my baking repertoire. A blend of two classic flavors, oatmeal and chocolate, creates what I would describe as one of the best flavor combinations out there. Most people will be more familiar with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but this is essentially the same thing in the form of a bar which I find preferable for no particular reason. What follows is the simple recipe my mother and I have used for years and are now sharing with you!

Safety Reminders:

• Wash your hands after handling eggs to reduce chance of getting salmonella
• Naturally, ovens get VERY hot, so wear oven mittens or another equivalent when putting things in and taking things out of the oven.
• To reduce contamination of your ingredients, do NOT return excess ingredients back into their original packaging

Recommended Cooking Materials:

• 13” x 9” Pan
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Electric Mixer
• ¼, ½, ¾ Cup Measuring Cups
• Cooking Spatula
• 1 Teaspoon Scoop
• 1 Normal Bowl
• 1 Fork

1 ¼ cup BUTTER or margarine, softened (2 ½ sticks of BUTTER)

¾ cup firmly packed BROWN SUGAR

½ cup granulated SUGAR

1 EGG

1 teaspoon VANILLA

1 ½ cups FLOUR

1 teaspoon BAKING SODA

3 cups rolled OATS, quick or old-fashioned

1 cup CHOCOLATE CHIPS milk chocolate or semi-sweet

*Brands shown above are not required, just the ones I happened to have on hand.

Set your BUTTER on the counter for a few minutes so it softens as it gets closer to room temperature.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Grease your 13” x 9” pan with CANOLA OIL (or whatever you usually grease your pans with)

Combine the compacted ¾ cup of BROWN SUGAR, ½ cup of SUGAR, and 1 ¼ cup of BUTTER in the mixing bowl and mix them until the mixture becomes almost creamy.

I recommend using your spatula to scrape a the mixture into the center of the bowl. This helps create a more even mixture of ingredients.

Add the EGG and 1 teaspoon of VANILLA to the mixing bowl and mix everything with your mixer until everything is mixed.

In a SEPARATE BOWL, mix the 1 ½ cups of FLOUR and 1 teaspoon of BAKING SODA with a fork.

(This will help more evenly distribute the baking soda throughout the overall mixture.)

Once these two ingredients are well mixed, add them to the main mixing bowl and use your mixer to mix the ingredients again.

Add 3 cups of OATS into the mixture and mix them with your mixer.

Add 1 cup of CHOCOLATE CHIPS and mix them into the mixture.

Dump the mixture into your greased pan.

Using your spatula, spread the mix as evenly as you can across the pan,

making sure you get some into the corners.

Place in the pre-heated over for about 22 minutes, adding time as necessary.

The cookie bars will be done when the edges start to brown and the center is a nice golden brown.

While waiting for the cookie bars to finish baking, I suggest going ahead and cleaning up the prep area.

Wipe down the counters, put everything back in its place, and wash any dishes used.

When the edges are starting to turn brown and the center is a little lighter than the edges, go ahead and carefully remove the pan from the oven using oven mittens.

I recommend waiting about 5 to 10 minutes to cut them so they have a chance to cool down.

When cutting, I generally make a 4 x 6 grid and I use a plastic knife so I don’t scratch my pan too much.

I also find it easiest to serve straight from the pan once it has cooled off and you are ready to serve.