Sunday, March 14, 2010

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

The first time I saw these bars was on Megan’s Cookin’ and they were loaded with chocolate chips.  A week or so later they popped up on my radar again when April lightened them up.  After seeing them a second time I couldn’t resist making some, especially knowing that my oatmeal cookie lovin’ son, Jalen would be thrilled.  Cookies aren’t happen here so this is a win-win recipe. 

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This is a super easy recipe that doesn’t require any advanced planning as there’s no butter to soften.   Besides my obvious change of leaving out the chocolate chips and subbing in toffee pieces I used all purpose flour instead of whole wheat.  These baked up perfectly in 17 minutes which was actually faster than it took me to clean up.

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While very good on their own these bars were fantastic heated up with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. So good in fact, I might have eaten one just like that for breakfast.  Hey, it’s like oatmeal made with milk only not. :)

Oatmeal Toffee Bars (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons skim milk (I used 2%)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used coarse sea salt)*
  • 3 cups of old-fashioned oats (I ran out and used a packet of instant)
  • 1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour (I used all purpose)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I added one bag of Heath’s toffee pieces.)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I omitted)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the sugars have dissolved.

In a separate bowl, combine old-fashioned oats, flour, baking soda, coconut, and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Add to liquid mixture and stir until combined.  The batter will be cookie dough thick.  Transfer it into a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking pan.  Once transferred I found it easiest to spread the batter into the corners with my dampened fingers.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool until firm. Cut into squares and store tightly covered.

*Note:  If you’re a fan of salty sweet (Michelle!) I’d up the salt to maybe 3/4 tsp.  On my last square I sprinkled some coarse sea salt on top and it was delish!

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51 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow those look delish! I have bookmarked for future making :) Thanks for posting

Plain Chicken said...

Those look great! I bookmarked this so I can make it soon! Thanks!

Cristine said...

Those bars look so yummy!

Sherry G said...

FYI, I will be making these! I love the whole oatmeal cookie thing, though I never seem to make any=( Nice post!

April said...

I'm glad that you liked them!! They sound really good with the toffee chips!

Memória said...

These toffee bars look so yummy!! I can't believe they are healthier!! They look fabulous. Great job, Ingrid!

Jamie said...

Gorgeous...they look fantastic!

Mireya said...

These look yummy!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those bars look irresistible!

Cheers,

Rosa

Lucie said...

These look amazing...with toffee chips, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips as well! Definitely looking forward to making these. Thanks Ingrid!

♥peachkins♥ said...

This bars would be a great comfort to me right now..

grace said...

one or four of these bars would make a perfectly acceptable breakfast, particularly if ice cream is also involved. dairy is so important to us as women, you know. :)

The Household 6 Diva said...

I love making bars over cookies -- a LOT less work!! (plus you can cut em up as BIG as you want -- what!?!?! I only ate ONE piece!! LOL)

I'll have to write this one down - my boys like oatmeal cookies!

Heidi said...

These look wonderful. I think my kids would love them!

Debbie said...

They look great Ingrid. I saw these on Meghans site too. Of course I want to make them but I just have to start cooking more and do less baking. The pants are getting tighter here lately!

cookies and cups said...

Oh Ingrid!! These look fantastic! These are everything I love all in one.

Amanda said...

I saw these at Megan's too! They look marvelous!

Stephanie said...

i love recipes when you don't have to wait for butter to soften! you can get workin right away (and it makes it that much closer to the time when you can actually eat the finished goodie!) :)

Megan said...

Your bars look fantastic! I love the addition of the toffee chips. I'll have to try that next time!!!

oneordinaryday said...

Okay - I'm sold.
I think I'll do cinnamon chips and definitely a generous sprinkling of sea salt on top. On my way into the kitchen right now!!!!! I'll let ya know how they turn out. : )

Mimi said...

I see nothing wrong with having frozen milk on your oatmeal in the morning. These do look yummy.
Mimi

Alisa-Foodista said...

Yum! It looks wonderful.

Eliana said...

Man these look incredible Ingrid. I could totally eat like a pan full of them.

alice said...

They look delicious!!! I will definitely give these a try...with vanilla ice cream, yum!

The Blonde Duck said...

Those look great! They remind me of oatmeal scotchies!

Maria said...

I love bar treats. These look delish!

Diane Schmidt said...

oatmeal and toffee, YUM!

teresa said...

i would love these bars! they look wonderful!

Faith said...

Great minds think alike, Ingrid! When I first saw these bars I thought about them for breakfast (after all, oats are healthy, right!). ;)

Abby said...

These will definitely be making an appearance in my house! With ice cream? Oh, yeah.

Leslie said...

ok ok ok..I suppose I am going to have to make them too!

Reeni said...

You know how much I love bar cookies and these are no exception! I would love these for breakfast!

Pam said...

I could eat two of these beauties right now - they look and sound so delicious.

Mary Bergfeld said...

What lovely bars. I stopped by to say hello and stayed far longer than I planned. I love your blog and will be back often to see what you are cookin'. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

ErinsFoodFiles said...

Ooooh! These look divine!

Anonymous said...

Ooh...I'm so going to try these. They sound so good.

Monica H said...

mmm, these do look good! with a glass of milk- oh yes! for breakfast? you betcha!

Miranda said...

Hi there Ingrid,
Sorry I have been MIA. With moving and broken computers it has been hard to post...
BUT great minds must think alike...I just posted a bar recipe too.
I LOVE THESE!!! You are so talented.

Unknown said...

These look delicious!!

Unknown said...

These look delicious!!

Barbara said...

I hate to be really wicked here, but how about chocolate AND toffee chips? And ice cream? No, I guess even I couldn't be that bad. ;)

We like bars better than cookies too. Why is that?

Lori said...

And the funny thing is I was just getting ready to make something like this. Stop. Reverse. I am making this. Yup. Anything with oatmeal always seems to grab my attention too.

And of course that was a healthy breakfast, lets see, dairy, check, fiber, check... I am such a cohort in crime, arent I?

Robin said...

Especially like these for breakfast your way with ice cream on top! I too think the toffee is a great idea, I have some cinnamon chips that need to be used up- that would be good too. So many idears here.

Lisa said...

I love that you used toffee pieces in lieu of the chocolate chips. I've been kind of anti-chocolate chip lately due to a CC cookie mishap, so these are perfect. They look incredible, Ingrid! Jalen is one lucvky kid. Now..I'm waiting on that Nutella Marshmallow Mousse!

Hilary said...

I've got a load of butterscotch chips to use up and this looks like a great way to do it!

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

i too have found an interesting recipe or 2 or more :-)))on megans wonderful blog...i love how ur wonderful creations look dear Ingrid....delicious as always....u excel....
happy St.paddys day to ya....

Diana's Cocina said...

These look wonderful. How i would love to have one now!! I'm becoming a bar fan.

Katy ~ said...

I LOVE your changes. Way to go! Get rid of those chocolate chips and use toffee!!!! Big YUMS.

You know..I'm a cookie person, but in your honor I made date bars the other day. I have to say, bars ARE very good. I'm going to be making more bars, I think.

Amber said...

These look so yummy!

gaga said...

Oh my! Those look wonderful. I love toffee bars and the oatmeal makes me feel less guilty for eating them :)

ErinsFoodFiles said...

I made these for a Super Bowl party, and unfortunately they got gobbled up before I could get a photo. They were delicious, thanks for sharing!