Oatmeal Fudge Bars
[donotprint]
I’ve discovered that oats and chocolate are a very underrated combination. While I don’t typically put chocolate in my morning oatmeal, I have found that chocolate added to an oat-based baked good is, in almost all cases, a very, very good decision. Chocolate chips instead of raisins in oatmeal cookies? Superb. Mini chocolate chips in homemade granola bars? No-brainer. Chocolate and caramel in Oatmeal Carmalita Bars? Heaven. Chocolate and oats together in desserts and snacks will always make your taste buds smile. Which is exactly why these Oatmeal Fudge Bars are a huge win. You’re going to love them!
This is an easy-peasy bar recipe that only requires a couple of bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. Don’t you just love those?! An oatmeal crumb crust serves as the bread in this amazing brownie sandwich. Part of it is used as a bottom crust, and the rest as a crumble topping. In between? A wonderful layer of fudge-like brownie awesomeness. It’s part crunchy, part dense and chocolatey, and part crumbly. An easy recipe perfect for after-school snacks, an easy dessert, or something to bring along to a work potluck or friend’s picnic. The epitome of a versatile recipe!
One year ago: Broccoli Salad
Two years ago: Dark Chocolate Truffles[/donotprint]
Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup (81 g) quick-cooking oats
- 1¼ cups (275 g) light brown sugar, divided
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- Pinch of salt + ¼ teaspoon salt, divided
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- 1½ cups (270 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, allowing excess to hang over pan edges. Grease foil; set pan aside.
- Combine the oats, 1 cup of the brown sugar, ¾ cup of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and the pinch of salt. Stir together in a bowl to combine. Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter and stir into the oat mixture until combined. Reserve ¾ cup of the mixture for the topping.
- Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake until light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Combine the remaining ¼ cup of flour, the remaining ¼ cup brown sugar, the instant espresso powder, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl; set aside.
- Melt the chocolate chips and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl, microwaving at 50% power in 30-second intervals, stirring after each. Let cool slightly. Add the egg and whisk until combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, stirring until just combined.
- Pour the chocolate filling over the cooled crust and sprinkle with the remaining oatmeal mixture. Bake until a toothpick inserted in to the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Using the foil overhang, lift the bars from the pan and cut into squares. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I saw this recipe this morning and told my husband that is sounds like something we would like. I scrolled
down to read the comments…turns out I made these 8 years ago. And we loved them. I just made another batch. They are still fantastic!
I made extra and brought some to work as a treat for my coworkers. Huge hit!
I made these for the second time and doubled the batch to fill a 9×13 dish, which I baked for 35 minutes — they came out perfectly. I reduced the sugar and butter, as I usually do when baking, and was really happy with the results. Love, love this recipe.
I just made these and they were delicious!! I made them with oil instead of butter so it would be dairy-free, and they taste fantastic. They are very crumbly, which might be because of the oil.
I adapted these bars to be gluten free and have been LOVING them! They are so
delicious! I subbed the flour out for Pamela’s GF Baking MIx and used certified GF oats. Thanks for sharing!
I just made these oatmeal fudge bars and they are delicious but VERY chocolaty. I am thinking that the next time , I would double the oatmeal /flour etc part of the recipe and use a 9×12 pan. This would balance out the chocolate better for our tastes. I might add some chopped nuts into the crumble part.
I am also thinking that a layer of a raspberry or blackberry jam might also be good in this recipe.
I am not allowed to make these anymore…
Tried these today and they were fantastic! and the fudge layer is OHMYGOD HEAVENLY!!! My new loooove.
My son is allergic to oats and I sub flaked Kamut or flaked barley in most recipes. He is not allergic to wheat. I am going to try these with Kamut or barley and see what he thinks. Thy look really delicious.
yummy looking! do you know if these freeze?
Hi Alice, I haven’t frozen them, but I imagine that they would freeze just fine.
I made these last night & they are super delicious!!! I even converted them to be Gluten-Free that way my son, who has Celiac disease, could also enjoy them! I used GF oats & a combination of almond, coconut & millet flour. Mine we sweeter than I would have preferred them to be, so next time I am going to cut some of the sugar. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
I love your site and have great success with many of your recipes (your peanut butter chocolate chips bars are a fave in our house) but I think I may have messed something up and I’m looking for some guidance.
When I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave (exactly as you directed) they became thick and almost fudge like. I thought may I over cooked them so I decided to melt a new batch of chips in a double boiler and the same thing happened. Is this typical or should I be doing something different? I think the bars turned out okay but I wonder if they might have been better.
Hi Nicole, I have had that happen, and it usually occurs due to one of two reasons: (1) the chocolate gets scorched either because the bowl got too hot or it was cooked for too long; or (2) the melting chocolate came into contact with water – even a drop can cause it to seize up.
These look so good! We recently started adding baking articles on our site too, they’re very popular!
Ooh, these look and sound amazing!
Do you think I can double this and put it in 9×13?
Yes, I think that would work just fine.
I made these a few nights ago and I found them unbelievably dry. I did not overbake them and even as I was mixing them they seemed quite crumbly. I went ahead with it anyway even though I knew I should have added more moisture. 1/2 cup of butter was not enough for the oatmeal mixture to stay soft. Not a fan of these. Maybe next time I’ll use my own date bar recipe, omit the date filling and replace it with the fudge-like layer.
Just made them tonight and they are delicious! My fudge layer was gooey!
I made these tonight, and they taste really good! However, I’m wondering if perhaps I didn’t bake them quite long enough? I baked them for the full 30 minutes, and tested them with a toothpick, but I couldn’t tell for sure, with the toothpick, if they were done. I didn’t want to overbake them, so I went ahead and took them out of the oven. When I cooled them completely and cut them, the fudge part was soft and gooey. Is the fudge part supposed to be soft like that, or is it supposed to be more like a cake brownie consistency?
Hi Liddy, They should have the consistency of a dense, fudgy brownie. Definitely soft, but not gooey to the point of being unable to cut it. It sounds like maybe they were just a tad underbaked.
Thanks, Michelle! I was able to cut mine without any problem, so maybe they weren’t as underbaked as I’d thought. I’ll give them a few minutes extra next time, and see how much of a difference it makes. Thanks! Love your recipes! Many of them have found their way into my recipe notebooks! :)
Oh my goodness, these look so tasty! I just made a batch of muffins, but I think I should make these right now as well!
One of my favorites and to make now. I love it. And the picture makes it look so outstanding.
They have oatmeal in them so that makes it a super-healthy recipe. Right? Not that it matters. I’m already in “need to have it” mode!!
these look perfect! my husband would love them.
hi! these look lovely . so simple! can’t wait to make!
This is a wonderful recipe. My daughter will love it. bookmarked it :-)
Oooo, I’m going to make these this weekend. They look so tasty!
I needed to make a quick dessert (using stuff I already had) for a dinner party tonight, so I made these! They couldn’t have been more delicious. They have all the yummy flavor The Baked Brownie, but with a yummy oatmeal crumble. Like a date square, only better!
I’m sorry but that’s impossible. Nothing is better than a date bar. ;)
Oh my, those look good. I love bars made with oatmeal anyway, so adding chocolate just sends to my happy place :-D
These bars look beautiful and delicious! How do you cut your bars so evenly? Mine are always oddly shaped and do not have clean edges. Thanks!
Hi Tracy, I always cut them one of two ways, depending on which tool is closer to me (or clean) at the time: I either use a sharp 8″ chef’s knife, and use one motion to cut down (no sawing), or I use a pizza cutter to make nice clean lines. I hope that helps!
Use a plastic knife to cut bar cookies, even when they are hot. The cookie doesn’t stick to the plastic and they cut perfectly every time.
A bench scraper also works great for cutting bars. Always had a problem cutting through fudgy brownies but not anymore. Plus its a great tool for working with sticky doughs.
A girl after my own heart. I, in fact, put chocolate chips or cocoa into my oatmeal every day! My two favorite things together :)
Looks wonderful! The only question I have is can I use old fashioned oats and not the quick ones? Would it be an alright substitute?
I haven’t attempted that with these bars. Sometimes when quick cooking oats are called for and you use the old-fashioned, you end up with a coarser texture and things don’t set up and old together as well. I would try with quick oats if you can.
Just what I figured. We don’t eat quick oats, but I’ll have to get them just to try and recreate this deliciousness! Thank you for your prompt responce, btw! Not everybody reads all responces to their blogs.
I used old fashioned oats in mine. I pulse them in my food processor a few times to slightly break them up. Mine probably had a slightly coarser texture than having used quick oats, they turned out delicious! But, I also made a few other adjustments in order to make them gluten-free.
Chocolate + oats = heaven! Love these bars!
Love these! I was thinking of you when I found a recipe for chocolate cream cheese ball that has peanut butter in it too. I made it and its fabulous!!! Check out thesisterscafe.com. You’ll love it!
the chocolate looks so soft almost like a mousse texture, love the crumbles on top!
My grandma used to make something similar to this when I was a kid. Haven’t had them in years!
Today’s snack would be perfect if I had one of these and a tall glass of cold milk *yumm*
Oh these look delicious!
I’m a big fan of oatmeal and chocolate so I have no doubt that I will love these bars. They do look delicious.
I agree, never a bad idea to add chocolate to anything made with oats! I loved these when I made them, and now I want them again seeing yours :) By the way, love that turquoise napkin!!
Michelle, I have made these bars from America’s Test Kitchen, too and know how darn good they are! I like to add a little nutmeg as well, which goes really well with the oats and chocolate. You’ve reminded me that I need to make another batch!
I”m all for chocolate and oats! Love these!
Sounds so good with the touch of instant coffee. They look so moist and delish.
I’m dying to make some of these!! Love oats + chocolate!
Yum! Love the pictures. A thick chocolate fudge layer sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies sounds wonderful!
If there is oatmeal in it, I consider it breakfast. Sooooo….oatmeal fudge bars for breakfast! Sounds like a winner to me! I cannot wait to try these. They look wonderful!
The pictures make me wanna grab one right off the screen. mmmmm… I can’t wait to try these.
These look downright sinful…but you know with oatmeal so you can kind of make a case of how healthy they are HAHA!
Oh man, this is pure heaven. This sounds amazzzzzzzing! Yum!!!!
You had me at Fudge!
These need to appear in my kitchen soon. Yum!
I love easy recipes like that and love that thick layer of fudge!
Mmmm – that fudge layer looks so, so tempting.
That fudge later looks amazing!
I occasionally DO enjoy chocolate with my morning oatmeal! I add a little hot chocolate mix to my oats, then add the water and zap in the microwave.
What a great idea! I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow!
Chocolate is suuuuccchhh a better choice than raisins! These look ridiculous!!
Nutella in oatmeal is really good!
bars, fudge, oatmeal, oatmeal bars, caramelitas bars…you just mentioned some of my fave things!
Chocolate added to anything is good! :) Well…mostly everything. These look super delicious and I love the photos….currently drooling.
YUM! This is one of my all time favourites. Yours are so lovely!!
I definitely agree that oats and chocolate are fantastic together! I want one of these right now!