Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars are the perfect easy dessert when you want all the cozy flavor of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie without scooping individual cookies. These bars are soft, chewy, buttery, and packed with plenty of oats and chocolate chips in every bite. Made without a mixer and mixes up in 15 minutes!

 

I’ve always loved oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but sometimes I just don’t want to spend time chilling dough or baking multiple trays of cookies. Bar desserts are just so easy and quick to mix up. Like my seven layer bars, no bake peanut butter bars, my lemon bars, my margarita bars, or my key lime bars – all just so easy and crowd pleasing desserts.

For these bars, I chose to use melted butter instead of softened butter because it gives the bars a richer flavor and helps create that chewy texture I was going for (similar to my congo bars and chocolate chip cookies bars!). The old-fashioned oats add a hearty texture while the brown sugar keeps the bars soft for days.

One of my favorite things about these oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars is how flexible they are too. You can keep them classic with semi-sweet chocolate chips or swap in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, nuts, coconut, or even peanut butter chips depending on what you have in your pantry.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: spooned and leveled for best results or use a scale for best results.
• Old-fashioned oats: I prefer old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats. They have a heartier texture.
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Unsalted butter: You can also use salted butter. Just reduce the added salt.
• Light brown sugar: Use my homemade brown sugar recipe.
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs: Use room temperature eggs so they don’t solidify the butter.
• Vanilla extract
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips: You can also use milk, dark, or white chocolate chips.

How To Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and preparing a 9×13-inch baking pan. I like to line the pan with parchment paper because it makes lifting the bars out of the pan much easier after baking. You can also lightly grease the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Mixing the dry ingredients separately first helps evenly distribute the baking powder and salt throughout the dough so you don’t end up with uneven texture in the finished bars.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Since the butter is melted, there’s no mixer needed for this recipe. Make sure the butter has cooled slightly before adding the eggs so the eggs don’t scramble.

Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until fully combined. The mixture should look smooth and glossy at this point.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon just until combined. Overmixing can make cookie bars tough, so stop mixing once you no longer see streaks of flour.

Fold in the chocolate chips evenly throughout the dough.

Spread the dough into the prepared baking pan. The dough will be thick, so I like to use an offset spatula or lightly greased hands to press it into an even layer. Spreading the dough evenly helps the bars bake consistently.

Bake for 20–25 minutes until the edges are lightly golden brown and set. The center may still look slightly soft when you remove the bars from the oven, but they will continue to set as they cool. Be careful not to overbake them or the bars can become dry.

Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before slicing. Cooling helps the bars fully set and gives you cleaner slices.

Recipe Tips

• Use old-fashioned oats for the best texture. Quick oats will work, but the bars will have a softer and less chewy texture.
• Don’t overbake the bars. The centers should still look slightly soft when you remove them from the oven. The bars will continue to set as they cool in the pan.
• Let the melted butter cool slightly before mixing in the eggs. If the butter is too hot, it can partially cook the eggs and affect the texture of the bars.
• Use parchment paper. Line the pan with parchment paper for easier removal and cleaner slices. I like to leave some parchment hanging over the sides of the pan to lift the bars out easily.
• Customize the mix-ins. You can easily customize these cookie bars with different mix-ins. Try peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, chopped nuts, coconut, dried fruit, or chopped chocolate. Just keep the total amount of mix-ins to about 2 cups.
• Watch the type of pan you use. Metal baking pans tend to create crispier edges while glass pans bake a little more slowly and create softer edges. If using a glass pan, you may need to add an extra 5 minutes of baking time.

Storage

Store the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If stacking the bars, place parchment paper or wax paper between the layers so they don’t stick together.

To freeze baked cookie bars, allow them to cool completely and slice into squares. Place the bars in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. I like to label the container with the recipe name and date so I know exactly what’s in the freezer later. Thaw the bars at room temperature before serving.

You can also freeze the unbaked cookie bar dough. Press the dough into a parchment-lined pan, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 3 months. Label the pan with the baking temperature and time before freezing. When ready to bake, bake directly from frozen at 350°F and add an extra 5–10 minutes to the baking time.

More Recipes To Try

If you love easy dessert bars like these oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars, here are a few more of my favorite bar recipes to try next:

• Banana Pudding Cheesecake Bars
• Cheesecake Bars
• Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
• S’mores Bars

These are all perfect for parties, bake sales, potlucks, or anytime you want an easy dessert that feeds a crowd.