Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
These oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars are soft, chewy and always a hit! With just a few minutes of prep, they’re out of the oven quickly!
I’ve been making these easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars for almost 20 years. Talk about a tried-and-true favorite!
They are easy, no-fuss, and they will always be one of my favorite cookie bars ever.
Soft and chewy, they are a perfect alternative to scooping out tray after tray of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
I just love cookies in bar form. I really do.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 g) butter, softened OR melted (see note)
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups (249 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (100 g) quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups (340 g) chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or line with parchment and lightly grease parchment and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, egg yolk, baking soda and salt, and mix with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer) until well-combined.
- Add the flour, oats and chocolate chips and mix until evenly combined.
- Press the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Don’t overbake! These bars are best underbaked by just a bit.
Notes
Butter: this recipe works just fine with softened OR melted butter. To take it up a notch, try browning the butter first. Amazing! Also, I always use salted butter.
Doubling: this recipe doubles great to fit in a half sheet pan (11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet).
Chocolate Chips: so many variations can be subbed in for these bars: peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, mint chips.
Serving: 1 Bar, Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 129mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 14g
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Recipe Source: adapted from 24 Hour Menu
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46 Comments on “Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars”
I was so excited to make these bars today …It wasnt on my list of things to do today but thought Id be spontaneous. They just didnt set up the only thing I can think of was I used cracked toasted oats Coache’s Oats as they were the only oats I had. Could that make a difference? look forward to hearing back from you.
Hi Christy, a quick google search tells me that the oats you used are similar in texture to steel cut oats. So yes, unfortunately, those won’t work as well in this recipe as using old-fashioned rolled oats (the texture of those two kinds of oats are completely different).
Oops just reread recipe and found I read butter amount wrong. My bad!
Mine turned out quite greasy. Any hints what went wrong?
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and used a combination of bittersweet and white chocolate chips. Everyone raved about them at our neighborhood cookout.
This is the 5th or 6th time I’ve made these. They are delicious and my oldest son requests them for his birthday treat to take to school.
I’ve learned the truth of your comment that it’s better to undercook them by a couple minutes than to let them brown much…they get dry.
Thanks Mel for great recipes!!
These are a favorite of ours, too, even after all these years. Glad you love them!
Another awesome recipe Mel! Thank you!
Thanks, Mel. I will try them.
Chiara
Hi, Mel:
This recipe looks great, and I wanted to make these bars for a cookie exchange for the teachers at my son’s school. I need a total of 36 bars. If I double the recipe as you recommend, will it make at least 3 dozen bars?
Thanks,
Chiara
It really depends on how big you cut them. A doubled recipe fills a large, rimmed baking sheet – I think you could get at least 30 or so and cut them smaller if you need 36.
Hi Mel, just letting you know that today is my third time making these. We recently had visitors from Germany and I made these. The kids literally fought over the last bar! This recipe was a big,big hit. Also, I added some nuts last time and they were great. Thanks Mel, you rock.
These are amazing! By the way, where or how do you store them?
Viktoriya – I let them cool, slice them and store them covered in a container in the refrigerator for a couple days. They also freeze great.
Can I halve this recipe and use an 8×8 inch pan? Would the baking time be lessened?
Viktoriya – Yes the recipe can be halved. I’d probably check it about 2-3 minutes sooner.
Hi
Just wondering if when you make the double batch in a larger pan as mentioned in your notes, you adjust the cooking time at all. Thanks 🙂
Hi Erica – not really. Just keep an eye on it. If anything, it will need to cook for a bit less time.
I comment whenever I like a post on a website or I have something
to add to the conversation. Usually it is triggered by the passion displayed in the article
I browsed. And on this post Mel’s Kitchen Cafe | Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars. I was excited enough to drop a thought 🙂 I actually do have a few questions for you if it’s allright.
Is it only me or does it give the impression like some of these responses appear
like written by brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are posting at other online social sites, I
would like to follow you. Would you list all of your shared sites like your twitter
feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
My 12 year old has made these twice in the last week all by herself. Came out amazing! The second time she kicked it up a notch with browned butter. I didn’t even know she knew how to brown butter! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
These were tasty! My whole family loved them and it was a nice change from making cookies!
45 minutes ago, I decided I wanted to make some kind of bar cookie to serve for dessert after dinner. These came together in 5 minutes, cooked in 18 and now half the pan is gone. Seriously? In 45 minutes? My 3 sons and husband don’t mess around when they like something. AMAZING!
Made these tonight, love them!!!
Yum! Used Kamut wheat…more buttery yum!
n82 – I’ve frozen these before and they seem to fare quite well out of the freezer.
Can you freeze these once baked? Has anyone noticed a huge difference in quality when you did that?
I just made these today – wow, they are so good!!
I linked this recipe on my post today 🙂 Thanks Mel!
These are SOOOO good! I’m making them for the 3rd time in 3 weeks right now…
Melissa – these are some of my favorites, in fact I am making them tomorrow. So glad you liked them, too!
Valerie – thanks for letting me know about your changes. They sound delicious. I’m definitely going to have to try it this way next time since it is so popular!
These are just what my taste buds are craving right now! Thanks Melanie!
I made these yesterday after church for a little father’s day snack while my hubby watched the US open. They were a big hit! Thanks!
I made two batches of these for a party yesterday, but I didn’t have any chocolate chunks. The first batch I used one cute up Symphony candy bar along with enough chocolate chips to equal 12 oz. They were good, but I’ve had lots of bars that tated similar. Then I made the second batch with semisweet chocolate chips, 1 T. orange juice and some orange zest, like a visitor suggested in his/her comment. I didn’t add the cranberries since I didn’t have them. That batch was so good and I will make it that way again. It tastes like you’re eating a chocolate orange candy, but softer. Thanks for the recipe.
Those look so good! My collection of bookmarked recipes is growing much faster than I can try them.
I’d have to agree with you. I have so many recipes printed out at home but whenever I find out I have to make something I always go to the internet for something new. I just gave myself a challenge of making something out of each of my cookbooks I own, check it out!
I am totally the same way – too many recipes, too little time!!These bars sound delicious, and easy which is always a plus!
Anonymous – this is why I love comments! I love all the ideas you shared about how you changed these up. I use a lot of ground white wheat flour, too, but have never used them in these – now I know they will taste great if I do. And I love the combination of cranberries and orange. Awesome ideas!
Oh, my mouth is watering. I’ve got to try these. And I agree about the recipes – sometimes I’m compulsive about trying out all the recipes in a cookbook just so I know if they are good or not! 🙂
your a girl after my own heart…gotta love em. I’ll have to try with mint chips..mmmm
ah, yes–the bar cookie. it’s almost always my favorite form of cookie to make, since i am a lazy, lazy sloth. 🙂 what a bonus when they’re as delicious as their drop cookie cousins.
I made these last week. The only changes were to use only about 1 cup of chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of nuts, and I used King Arthur white whole wheat flour. I use it in almost all of my cookie baking. I think it adds a nice nuttiness, plus I like the idea of not eating procesed white flour. They were delicious! So much so that I just made them again-this time with only 1/2 cup of chips, plus 1/2 cup of orange flavored dried cranberries, some orange zest, and 1 tablespoonful of orange juice. Fabulous!
I’m Sophie, Key Ingredient’s Chief Blogger. We would like to feature this adapted recipe on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks 🙂Sophiehttp://blog.keyingredient.com/
Melanie,As soon as I saw this on your blog I went directly to the kitchen and made them. My kids had some friends over playing Wii Fit and I made up a batch for them – I am sure any calories they burned playing the Wii Fit were destroyed by these yummy bars!! They are so good and gooey right out of the oven- perfect with an ice cold class of milk. I only had chocolate chips – no chunks so just used those.
These were so yummy. Even better the second day… not so rich. Thanks!
Stacie – next time I make these I’ll have to reserve some to try the next day (they never make it that far). Glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for checking in.