Home All Recipes Dessert Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars
By Jess Smith
4.23
Published Jan 29, 2021•Updated Feb 14, 2024
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These Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars are like a soft oatmeal cookie in bar form. These are baked in an 8×8 pan, use melted butter, and don’t require a mixer – easy and fast!
Earlier this month I shared a recipe for healthy-ish Oatmeal Cookie Dough Energy Bites, but they were really just a prelude to these. Tender, chewy, no-mixer-required Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars.
Baked in an 8×8 pan, these bars make just enough for our family to enjoy for dessert with a couple left over for snacking the next day. There’s no waiting for butter to soften and no mixer required, making them the perfect thing to make tonight. You probably already have everything you need!
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – Weigh the flour if possible, but otherwise, just gently spoon it into the measuring cup.
- Brown Sugar – This recipe uses all brown sugar to keep the bars soft and give them a slightly chewy texture. Light or dark brown sugar work.
- Unsalted Butter – Melt the butter and let it cool slightly before baking. If using salted butter, just be sure to skip the added salt in the recipe.
- Oats – You’ll need regular oats for these bars – look for either “old-fashioned” or “rolled” oats.
- Ground Cinnamon – As with oatmeal cookies, a small amount of ground cinnamon really helps to give these bars depth and highlights the chocolate flavor.
- Chocolate Chips or M&Ms – I like these with a mix of chocolate chips and M&Ms for some color and crunch. You can make the bars entirely with chocolate chips or entirely with M&Ms or with any other type of chocolate (see the recipe for ideas).
- Baking Powder, Kosher Salt, Large Egg, Pure Vanilla Extract – Standard baking ingredients.
How to Freeze Cookie Bars
Cookie bars freeze well. Once bars have cooled completely, slice them into individual portions. Wrap each portion in plastic and transfer to a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to six months.
These will defrost at room temperature in about an hour. Individually-wrapped cookie bars make great treats to add to lunch boxes!
More 8×8 Desserts
Semolina Cake
Easy Vanilla Cake (with oil, no butter)
Applesauce Cake
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4.23 from 191 votes
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars are like a super soft oatmeal cookie in bar form. Change up the mix-ins, using chocolate chips and M&Ms as shown, or trying them with butterscotch chips or toasted chopped nuts.
Prep: 20 minutes mins
Cook: 24 minutes mins
Total: 44 minutes mins
Servings: 16 bars
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Equipment
Mixing Bowls
8×8 baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour (1 cup flour = 125 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 stick)
- 1 cup lightly packed Brown Sugar (light or dark will work) (1 cup sugar = 200 grams)
- 1 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Old Fashioned / Rolled Oats
- 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (see note)
- 1/2 cup M&Ms (see note)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C. Line an 8×8 metal baking pan with parchment paper and / or spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and brown sugar until evenly combined. Whisk in egg and vanilla.
Pour dry ingredients over wet and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon just until no dry spots remain (do not overmix.)
Gently stir in oats, chocolate chips, and M&Ms.
Pour batter into prepared pan, scattering any reserved mix-ins over top.
Bake 24 to 28 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. (Note: If cooked on the lower end of the bake time, these will be very soft and will stay moist for a couple of days. If you plan to serve them the same day as they were baked, bake at the higher end of the recommended cook time.)
Let cool in the pan until the bars can be easily removed. Once cool, slice and serve.
The bars can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Chocolate Chips and M&Ms – You can use both or just one of these. Reserve a few extra to scatter on the top if you’d like. If you’d like different fillings try butterscotch chips, chocolate chunks, or toasted pecans / walnuts. Just be sure the total amount of mix-ins add up to 1 1/2 cups.
Glass or Ceramic Baking Pan – If using a glass or ceramic baking pan, the bars will take longer to bake. Expect to add about 5 minutes to the baking time.
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 212IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef
Cost: $3.00
Calories: 230
Keyword: chocolate chip, cookie bars, easy snack
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Categorized as:
All Recipes, Dessert, Make with Kids
About Jess Smith
Jess is the recipe creator and photographer at InquiringChef.com. She spent nearly a decade as the Chief Recipe Developer for the award-winning meal planning app Cook Smarts. Her colorful, healthyish recipes have been featured in popular online publications including Parade, Hallmark, and HuffPost.
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