Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

 We were going to our friends' apartment to watch a football game last weekend, so I wanted to bake something to bring and share.  I converted a recipe for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies into bar form.  After a quick pedal to pick up some supplies from the neighborhood grocery store, I preheated my oven to somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees F.  I wasn't sure how much I needed to change the recommended cookie bake temperature while adapting the recipe to make bars.  I increased the temperature a bit (25 to 50 degrees) and the result was delicious (or else my friends and my own tastebuds lied to me).  I'll have to see if this is true of all cookie-to-bar transitions, or if this recipe was a special case. (If you know anything about turning cookies into bars, be sure to comment!)

The bars after we nommed them at our friends' apartment.

I started by softening a cup of butter and adding 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar. I creamed this with a whisk, then beat in 2 eggs (one at a time), followed by 2 teaspoons of vanilla.  The mixture started to resemble cookies after I added 1.25 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt.  I also added some cinnamon, because I just love the flavor and the tiny freckles it adds.  Finally, I added the highlights of the bars: 3 cups of quick oats, 1 cup of slightly crumbled walnuts, and 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips.  As far as I know, you can throw in whatever goodies you want and the result will be delicious. This recipe listed some natural choices (in my opinion), but I could definitely see myself enjoying butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, shredded coconut, or dried fruit in there too.  Yum! Yum yum yum! We have a shelf dedicated to trail mix ingredients, and I think you could pretty much dump any of that deliciousness in there!

I cropped out the bottom part of the picture because I drooled on the table.

Then, I sprayed a 9x13 inch pan and dropped the dough into the pan.  This part made me doubt what I was doing because the dough was a little bit thick, and spreading and smoothing the mixture out was a teensy bit difficult (not too hard to do, but not as easy as pouring brownies into a pan!).  I think next time I'll try to figure out some way to make the dough a little less viscous. (Any great ideas out there? Seasoned bar makers?)

Then I popped the bars in the oven and watched them cook for 25 minutes. I had no idea how long to let them go for, but 25 minutes ended up working great! The edges were just starting to brown, but the bars were still pretty soft and yummy.  I'm not sure if this was a good measure, but a toothpick poked into the center came out clean.  I guess Steve was in a chocolatey mood, so he sprinkled another half cup of chocolate chips on top after pulling the pan from the oven.

The great thing about this bar recipe is all the yummy stuff that is packed in the bars! I didn't crush the walnuts too much because I prefer to really notice the coarse bits. Next time I make this, I think I will put in some of the extra goodies I listed. I really love chocolate so I might add some extra chocolate chips! teehee!

Directions: place wooden spoon in cookie dough, lift to mouth, eat cookie dough, repeat.

Actually... there are 2 great things about the recipe. The first I just listed, and the second is the raw dough. oh. em. gee. Simply hamazing. I honestly should have just eaten a lot of the cookie dough and then cooked the rest of the bars in a small pan. nom nom nom! I love crunching the chocolate chips in between my teeth!