Ahhh…Pinterest. I have such a love/hate relationship with you. I love that I can find inspiration and recipes and ideas on pretty much any topic in the world – but I hate that my boards basically consist of a huge bunch of things I will never have the time/money/energy to actually DO. I know I’m not alone here, right? Well – ok – even if you’re one of those freakishly crafty/energetic/go-getter people who manage to recreate the amazing things on Pinterest, don’t worry – I still love you, and don’t totally hate you (not too much anyway…)
Either way, Pinterest is a great place to find new recipes – especially desserts – I could search and click away for hours just drooling over all the amazing looking pictures of cakes, cookies, and pies that are on there. When it comes to what recipes I will actually make, I tend to gravitate towards chocolate, and oats too – they are two of my favorite things, and any chance I get to combine them into one delicious dessert – I’m in!
I have had these deep dish oatmeal chocolate cookie bars on my “Must try desserts” Pinterest board for a few years now – and I don’t know why I waited so long to make them!
Deep Dish Oatmeal Chocolate Cookie Bars (Recipe Courtesy of Love, Life, Lavins)
Ingredients
2 sticks margarine (I’ve used butter and it’s worked fine)
2 eggs
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup milk
3 cups oatmeal
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup margarine (I’ve used butter and it’s worked fine too)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (typically one bag)
Directions
Mix the butter, eggs and brown sugar. Add vanilla and milk. Slowly incorporate the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. I prefer using a stand mixer since it’s quite thick
Is there anything more beautiful than sugar and butter? Well – maybe sugar and butter with OATS in it!
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat melt together the chocolate chips, condensed milk, 1/3 cup margarine/butter, and 1 tsp vanilla
The chocolate mix gets ready to be spread on top of the cookie base
Spread 3/4 of the oat mixture on the bottom of a greased 13×9 pan, then pour on the chocolate mixture and spread evenly over the oats. Then, spread rest of cookie mixture on tops in spoonfuls (it won’t cover the chocolate completely)
Various stages of assembly
Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. *Note – the top can tend to get done before it’s completely cooked, so you can cover the bars with foil for the last ten minutes or so if it looks like it’s browning too much
Dough – before and after baking
Let the bars cool for a while, otherwise it won’t set up and will just run when you cut into it
A few small alterations I made to the original recipe: I used real butter (not margarine), and I melted it first – the recipe didn’t say to do that, but I figured it would help with the mixing process (which it did – I didn’t need to get out my mixer at all!). I also did not use the stove to melt the chocolate mix – just whipped it up in the microwave instead. I also read some of the comments to see if people used quick or regular oats – the author said she used quick oats so that’s what I went with as well (although – I should think regular oats would give a nice texture so I might try that next time!)
This recipe was easy – I had most of the ingredients on hand already, and assembling it was fast and painless, plus it was super tasty. Based on the original picture from the blog, I thought it would be a super dense, rich dessert – but it wasn’t at all, it was more cake-y and almost fluffy (if oats/butter/sugar can be fluffy?), and the chocolate was not as thick as I was thinking it would be either, it was almost more like a ganache-y type consistency. I would definitely make this again, it would be perfect to bring to one of the picnics/parties/BBQ’s/family reunions that are coming up this Spring/Summer
My husband enjoyed them (a lot!)
Thank you Pinterest for the awesome recipe, and for always inspiring me to try new things!
Modern Day Betty Crocker 