Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I know people have been on the sweet and salty dessert kick for awhile, but it’s taken me some time to get on board. If you’ve read my blog for awhile you may have noticed that I don’t put salt in many of my recipes. My mom doesn’t either, and hasn’t really ever, so I’m super sensitive to salt. But in these Oatmeal Fudge Bars, the salt is what makes them GREAT! Picture a gooey, fudgy, peanut buttery layer surrounded by a hearty, soft oatmeal-based crust with just a hint of salt to balance the sweetness, and you have these bars. If you don’t have these bars, you’re missing out, so you should make them, stat. They are a perfect way to celebrate Whole Grain Sampling Day today too!

These bars are a bit finicky to make, but their sweet-salty goodness makes them well worth the effort! Mind you, when I say these bars are “finicky” I mean you have to make and bake the crust, wait for it to cool, then add the filling and the topping. So really, not too complicated… but an extra step or two and a bit of time.

They are so fudgy and rich that just a small, warm slice is perfectly satisfying. Because I ran out of chocolate chips [I knowwww] while making them, I used some peanut butter chips too. You can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate, can you? Enjoy!

one year ago: Neely’s Lemon Pasta Salad
two years ago: Pineapple-Apricot Teriyaki Chicken
three years ago: Sweet and Tangy Pork Chops with Pineapple and Coconut Toasted Rice

Oatmeal Fudge Bars [from Carpe Season]
click to print

Ingredients:

for crust/topping

• 1 cup oats [original recipe suggested quick oats, I used old-fashioned]
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour [or all-purpose]
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

for filling

• 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour [or all-purpose]
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 3/4 cup peanut butter chips [or can use all chocolate chips], divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8×8 square baking dish with foil and grease thoroughly.

In a medium bowl,  prepare the crust/topping. Whisk together oats, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour in melted butter, then stir to combine.

Save 3/4 cup of this mixture for the topping, then press the rest evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake crust for 8-9 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cool completely [can refrigerate pan for 20-25 minutes to speed process up, if desired].

As crust cools, prepare the filling.

Stir together flour, brown sugar, instant coffee, and salt in a bowl. You can use the crust bowl, wiped out with a paper towel, if desired. When crust is cool, melt 1/2 cup chocolate and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips together with the butter in a bowl in the microwave in 20 second increments, for a total of about a minute. Stir in between each microwave session.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg. When chocolate mixture has cooled a bit, pour chocolate into the egg and whisk constantly so as to not cook the egg. Pour egg/chocolate into the flour mixture, stirring with a fork to combine. Mixture will be thick–like icing.

Spoon the filling over the cooled crust. Don’t worry if crust isn’t completely covered. Sprinkle reserved topping over chocolate mixture, then top with reserved chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Bars are done when filling starts to pull away from the sides of pan.

Cool bars for 30 minutes before removing from pan with foil, then cut into bars and serve.

Store in the fridge for best results.

Time: 2 hours [30 minutes active].

Yield: 16 servings.