Fudgy Oatmeal Bars

11 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr
Hands-on Time
15 Mins
Total Time
1 Hour 27 Mins
Yield
Serves 28 (serving size: 1 bar)
By Laura Zapalowski
September 2013
RECIPE BY Cooking Light

Fudgy Oatmeal Bars are incredibly rich tasting. The oatmeal crust and topping of the bar cookies are a perfect complement to the gooey chocolately goodness

Ingredients

  • Crust:
  • 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Baking spray with flour
  • Filling:
  • 3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup evaporated fat-free milk
  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Nutritional Information

  • Calories 172
  • Fat 7.8g
  • Satfat 2.8g
  • Monofat 3.1g
  • Polyfat 1.2g
  • Protein 2.5g
  • Carbohydrate 25.3g
  • Fiber 1.6g
  • Cholesterol 19mg
  • Iron 1.7mg
  • Sodium 70mg
  • Calcium 25mg

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon 5 ounces flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through baking soda) in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 cup canola oil and 2 tablespoons butter; toss with a fork until crumbly. Remove 3/4 cup of oat mixture; set aside. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with baking spray. Bake at 350° for 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly.

Step 3

To prepare filling, weigh or lightly spoon 4 ounces flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Combine milk and espresso granules in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until espresso dissolves. Add 3 tablespoons canola oil, 3 tablespoons butter, vanilla, and eggs to milk mixture, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring to combine. Fold in chocolate.

Step 4

Spread batter over prepared crust in pan. Sprinkle with reserved 3/4 cup oat mixture. Bake at 350° for 32 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a rack. Cut into 28 bars.

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Ratings & Reviews

Barkly's Review

Barkly
March 13, 2014
Nothing special. Crust was too dry to hang together and at 25minutes, mine were dry and cakes. Definitely not fudgy. Unlike some who made subs, I followed precisely. We will likely throw these away. The taste does not justify the calories and sugar.

daneanp's Review

BlueeyedSara7
January 26, 2014
I got 24 bars. Decent serving size. Really mocha-y and rich. I need a big glass of milk! My bars held together and I followed the recipe exactly. Letting them cool completely before cutting. Will definitely make these again.

chrp12's Review

gourmetbos
December 28, 2013
N/A

PKcookin's Review

daneanp
October 21, 2013
N/A

cookfromsocal's Review

Tharavn66
October 13, 2013
Made these yesterday. We don't drink coffee so I just had regular coffee granules so they had a mild coffee taste. We did enjoy them. Didn't have any problems with the crust. Easy and a definite repeat.

Tharavn66's Review

SkierCathy
September 15, 2013
These are amazing! I didn't have evaporated milk and so had to sub with 1% milk. It was fine. The only reason I don't give a 5 stars is because the base was not sturdy enough for the bars to be cut clean. Maybe I need to press the crust down more firmly next time. Other than that, these are delish.

SkierCathy's Review

chrp12
September 13, 2013
I am giving these bars 4 stars because these bars have a nice chocolate-rich flavor & tasted great, but there are a few changes that I would need to make. I only cooked mine for 25 minutes because that's about how long I cook all my other brownie recipes. They came out fudgy and perfectly cooked at 25 minutes for me. If I had cooked them for the 32 minutes per the recipe, they would have been overcooked, dry and cakey. The oatmeal crust is too dry, so when I added my brownie batter it didn't stay in place. Next time, after I reserve the 3/4 cup of oatmeal mixture, I will add either 1-2 Tbsp of non-fat plain yogurt, which will help keep the fat content low but will add moisture to the crust, or I could try adding Adams Old-fashioned peanut butter because it only has peanuts as an ingredient which is a healthier fat. Either addition should help the oatmeal crust If the crust stood up better, this recipe would be 5 stars

gourmetbos's Review

Judy
August 27, 2013
I bake frequently and am always looking for new chocolate dessert recipes that are lower calorie yet taste decadent I tried this recipe last night and i have to say these are one of the best dessert bars i have ever made! The texture when cooked is a cross between brownie batter, fudge and fallen chocolate cake! These taste incredibly rich and the oatmeal crust and topping are a perfect compliment to the gooey chocolately goodness! I would rate these 10 stars if I could...they are extraordinary! The only changes I made were to use Hersey's special dark cocoa and I used a 9" by 9" pan so that the crust would be thicker along with the bars. I will be baking these fudgy oatmeal bars on a regular basis! Bake these today!,,,

BlueeyedSara7's Review

PKcookin
October 28, 2013
Made these yesterday with several substitutions and they were very good. I don't drink coffee and wasn't going to buy espresso powder for one recipe but I did have International Foods double-chocolate instant coffee so I used that instead. In an effort to make them more nutritionally dense, I made the following replacements: all-purpose flour – 4 oz. white whole-wheat flour & 0.5 oz. ground flaxseed; unsweetened cocoa – Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa; canola oil – extra-light olive oil; bittersweet chocolate chips – dried cranberries; old-fashioned rolled oats – steel-cut oats. For the love of heaven, NEVER replace old-fashioned rolled oats with steel-cut oats! They harden rather than soften and I broke a tooth! I enjoyed the first bite very much; the second bite, not so much. Be warned!