Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Last week I looked in the freezer and realized that I had almost no cookies or bars or anything else to eat for my bedtime snack! Moving into a new place can really throw off your baking schedule. I wanted something easy to quickly remedy this dire situation. Since I have a huge bag of oats floating around in my kitchen, I thought a simple oat bar of some kind would be nice. And while there are tons of oat bar recipes that call for peanut butter, I decided against a PB oat bar, looking instead for something even more basic; simply butter, oats, sugar and some chocolate of course. 

These bars fit the bill perfectly. Nothing fancy, nothing difficult, exactly what I was looking for. They come together in about a minute, really couldn't be easier. If you're looking for a little something to satisfy your sweet tooth but don't want to get into anything fancy or complicated these bars are for you. My first baking endeavor in new apartment was most definitely a success!

I cut my pan into small, bite-sized bars, perfect for a quick little snack, just the size I like before heading to bed each night. You of course can cut them however big you want, whatever your situation calls for. Since I didn't have tons of chocolate chips, I cut back on the amount of chocolate that I added to these bars in order to save some of my precious chocolate for something else later. But they would be even more decadent and delicious chocked full of chocolate. You can always add some nuts too if you like that sort of thing. I think walnuts would be especially delicious in this recipe, a perfect complement to the chewy oats and the sweet chocolate, this recipe is easy to really make your own. 

Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup (4.25 ounces) old fashioned oats
• 1 cup (5 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (2.5 ounces) brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of ground coffee, optional
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Chocolate chips, up to 4 ounces (about 3/4 cup), I only used 1 ounce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, sugar, soda, salt and coffee if using. Add the melted butter, egg and vanilla and mix until almost combined. Add in the chocolate chips, reserving a few to sprinkle over the top if desired. 

Transfer dough to prepared baking dish. Spread evenly with fingers. Sprinkle with reserved chocolate chips if desired, pressing them down gently. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, don't overbake, it's okay if they are slightly underdone. Let cool in pan before cutting into bars. 

Approximate Calorie Count:

If cut into 16 medium sized bars: 143 calories each

If cut into 25 small bars: 92 calories each