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Thick and chewy Oatmeal Cookie Bars are made in one bowl and turn out so thick and buttery, loaded with chocolate, and perfect as an afternoon treat.
You know those old cookbooks that you find at garage sales and thrift shops? The ones that all the little old ladies at church contributed to? Yeah, those.
They’re the best.
I found a recipe for the perfect oatmeal cookies in one such book and I’ve held on to it for years. And years and years.
I didn’t want to make oatmeal cookies today, though. I wanted to make oatmeal cookie bars! And, so I did.
I loaded these oatmeal cookie bars with a whole bag full of chocolate chips, because the more the merrier, if you ask me. Of course, you could use raisins and add a little cinnamon to the batter if that’s more your style.
We’ll always choose the chocolate chips in this house, though.
These oatmeal bars are thick, they’re soft, they’re chewy, they’re gooey, they’re melty, they’re basically all the good things you want in an oatmeal cookie.
We love baking with oats. These Strawberry Oatmeal Bars and Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are made on repeat in our house.
Ingredient Notes:
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Dry Ingredients – To prepare the oatmeal cookie batter you’ll start with old fashioned rolled oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Wet Ingredients – You’ll also need a couple large eggs, some vanilla extract, and melted butter. You can brown the butter too if you want to add extra flavor!
Chocolate Chips – We prefer to use milk chocolate chips in this recipe but you can use any variety including semisweet or dark chocolate chips!
What We Love About This OATMEAL COOKIE BAR Recipe:
- Texture: The rolled oats are nice and chewy and they go really well with the melty chocolate and soft cookie dough! Add some nuts or raisins to add even more textures to the mix.
- Simple: This is an easy dessert recipe that doesn’t require a whole lot more than mixing everything in one bowl, transferring to a baking dish, and then baking, cooling, and slicing it. So simple!
How To Make Oatmeal Cookie Bars:
Combine: Add all of the wet and dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer.
Chocolate: You can now stir in the chocolate chips by hand, then spread the batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake: These oatmeal cookie bars will only take about 25 minutes to bake at 350 degrees, or until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs. The bars should look slightly underdone so don’t overbake and dry them out!
Serve: Let it cool for at least an hour before slicing into bars and serving!
Variations & Substitutions:
There are lots of ways to modify these oatmeal cookie bars! You could use white chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch chips as a substitute for chocolate or use a variety mix.
Or why not even more chocolate? A few mini snack size Hershey’s bars would make for some deliciously melty bites.
Mixing chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, or cranberries into the oatmeal cookie batter would be another great way to change this recipe up.
I also think some flaky sea salt would make an excellent topping. The salty flavor would contrast nicely with all that sweetness!
FAQ’s:
Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. They’ll last about a week or so in the fridge.
Yep! After allowing to cool completely wrap the oatmeal cookie bars in plastic and then aluminum foil and store in the freezer. They’ll stay good for about a month or two.
Quick oats are cut smaller than rolled oats and will work just fine in this recipe. However, we do prefer the chewier texture of rolled oats in these cookie bars.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips or any variety
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add everything but the chocolate chips to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter into the baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Bars should look slightly underdone.
- Let cool 1 hour before cutting into bars.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in 2015. It was updated in 2024 with new photos. Original photo below:
Karen Thibodeau says
Wowzer! These cookie bars ROCK! I DID make them with raisins and a healthy shake of cinnamon as that is how my husband prefers his oatmeal. Hope we can still be friends! I can imagine with the chocolate they would be over the moon. Thank you
Karly says
I suppose we can still be friends. 😉 Glad you guys enjoyed the cookies!
Sheila says
Wouldn’t it make more than 16 bars in a 9×13 pan?
Karly says
It would make more than that if you cut them smaller than I did. The recipe is enough to fill a 9×13 pan – you can cut the bars into whatever size you choose.
Fazia Boodhoo says
I am making this right now but I halved the recipe. Hope it comes out ok!!!!!!!??
Barb Chamberlain says
I keep making these with variations and they never go wrong. I’ve used coconut oil and peanut butter for part or all of the butter, added chopped walnuts or peanutss, used caramel bits or butterscotch or Heath bits in place of some of the chocolates chips. Always outstanding.
Karly says
Sounds like some great substitutions!
Lisa says
This is the perfect oatmeal cookie bar recipe! Using melted butter & just dumping into the bowl is genius. These bars are the best & I dumped all of the ones I have tried before. Thanks so much for posting it.
Karly says
So glad you enjoy these! 🙂
Brittany Marsh says
Just made these last night! I didn’t have a problem with it being sticky. Everyone here loved it! I think this could be a good mix to give out as gifts too. Thanks for the keeper!
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed these!
Jana says
Wondering if anyone Has anyone ever tried making them in a 10x15pan? I know the bars would be a little thinner but just curious???