A delicious oatmeal cookie and brownie mash up
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had little to no interest in sweets. I survived on cereal and scrambled eggs (which the later, I don't understand) but as soon as she was born and my milk came in, I was ravenous for ALL THE CHOCOLATE. I found a recipe for oatmeal butterscotch bars and ate them by the pan by myself for the first 3 months of her life. I should have that recipe memorized, but the funny thing about being a mom, once your brain recognizes you have no need for certain information, it deletes it for good and there is no getting it back. Well I develop recipes, so I got to work. And although the butterscotch bars will live in my heart forever, I wanted to create something a little different.
"You don't have to love cooking to cook, but you have to do more than love baking to bake. You have to bake out of love.” -Tom Junod
First, I made chocolate truffle bars which evolved into these Nutella oatmeal cookie bars. I love the texture that oatmeal lends to a cookie bar and that thick layer of Nutella is everything.
Tips for cookie bars:
Don't overwork the dough--it should be more wet than traditional scoop cookie dough.
If you are adding in a middle layer or filling, separate the dough in half. Press the first half into a prepared pan, add in your filling and then dollop the rest of the cookie dough on top. This gives the cookie a prettier top view and allows that filling to peek through every now and then while baking.
Use a light colored or glass pan. Since the cookie bars have to bake for a while, a lighter pan will give you a more even bake.
So lets get to this recipe!
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 c soft butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c old fashioned oats
Nutella
Caramel sauce
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F. To a large glass bowl add soft, room-temperature butter and sugars. Cream together using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Mix until well combined.
Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and cream again until the batter turns a pale cream color.
To the same bowl add the flour, baking soda, salt, and oatmeal and mix until combined.
Then mix in chocolate chips. I like to do half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips.
Again mix till chocolate chips are fully incorporated.
Separate dough into two parts. Press first half down into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Then spread your desired amount of Nutella onto cookie dough. Dollop the remaining cookie dough on top.
Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or till center is set. You can check this with a toothpick. If it comes out mostly clean, it's ready to take out of the oven.
Top with some caramel sauce and sprinkle with course salt. Slice into 12 squares, serve, and enjoy.