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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:
Dolly Bennett says
Absolutely delicious! Teaching my granddaughter to bake and they are so easy because everything goes in at once – no mixing, setting aside, etc. Very very good. Thank you!
Karly says
Glad you guys enjoyed them!
Ana says
These were so good and easy to make! Thank you for the recipe!
Heathee says
Instead of chocolate chips I added the cranberry orange relish I had left over. YUM!
Karly says
Sounds amazing!
Jenny P says
I was skeptical when I read the directions (mix everything together at once????), and even though it went against everything I’ve been taught about baking, I did it. I’m so glad I did. This took two minutes to put together and the bars are delicious. I also think they’d be heavenly with some butterscotch chips or a layer of caramel in there. Thank you for sharing!
Karly says
I know, I know…kinda scary to just toss it all together, but since the butter is melted, it really works. 🙂
Fareeha Mapara says
Hi, I had a question. Can I use quick oats for these? I don’t really get old fashioned oats where I live.
Karly says
Sure, it should work fine. I use quick oats quite a bit and don’t have a problem.
ChannonD says
These sound like exactly what I have been craving! Thanks!!
And, you may call me crazy, but a little cinnamon in with the chocolate is pretty fantastic too! (Forget those wrinkly raisins. bleh!)
Karly says
Cinnamon would be a great addition!
lluvia says
is it possible to do these bars with granola instead of oatmeal?
Karly says
I’ve never tried it. If you’ve made oatmeal cookies with granola instead of oatmeal, then this should turn out in a similar manner.
Ingrid says
Which flour do you use? Plain or self-raising?
Thank you.
Karly says
All purpose flour.
Lindsay says
These were delicious and so super easy to throw together! 🙂
Karly says
Glad you enjoyed them!
Joanne says
Somehow in the northeast, you don’t find too many of those old school cookbooks which is SUCH A BUMMER. I mean, I think I’d be freaked out by all the “cream of” soups though. But anything oatmeal cookie bar, and I am SO in.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
mmmmmm so goooey! Love these oatmeal bars-I wouldn’t be able to get enough!
Michelle @ My California Kitchen says
Browned butter and lots of chocolate!! Perfect. Pinning these for consumption ASAP! 🙂
Katy says
Just popped a batch in the oven! Can’t wait to try them 🙂 My toddler kept eating the dough, I coudn’t get them in the oven faster haha! I think she got her sweet tooth from me.
Karly says
Ha! Sneaky little kiddos. 🙂
Erin @ Miss Scrambled Egg says
My cousin and her baby are coming over for dinner tonight. I’m definitely going to have to whip some of these bad boys up for dessert!
Karly says
Enjoy!
Kirsten says
Hi,
I made these tonight for my husband. I browned the butter beforehand and it ended up melting the chocolate chips. Made for a different sort of chocolatey bar, but still delicious. Guess it’s necessary to let the melted butter cool significantly before adding it to the mix!
Karly says
I didn’t let mine cool and some of the chips did melt and some didn’t. You can definitely let it cool a bit if you prefer the chips don’t melt. 🙂