Oatmeal Cookie Bars
These oatmeal cookie bars are soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chips! They taste just like your favorite cookie, minus the hassle of chilling or scooping the dough.
My oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have been a reader favorite for years. It’s a quick and easy recipe that’s nearly foolproof, but like most of my cookie recipes it does require chilling the dough before rolling it into balls and baking.
These oatmeal cookie bars deliver the same soft and chewy results, but because the cookie dough is baked in a 9×13-inch pan you get to skip the entire chilling and shaping process.
I kept this recipe super simple by using just chocolate chips in the dough, but you’re welcome to get creative by adding any mix-ins you like. Chocolate chunks, chopped nuts, raisins — just about anything will work!
Serve these oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars straight from the pan, or add individual bars to care packages or holiday cookie boxes. There’s no bad time to bake these oatmeal cookie bars!
What You Need
If you’ve made regular oatmeal cookies before, the ingredients list for this bar version will look familiar. Let’s review the most important ingredients:
- Oats: I prefer to use old-fashioned rolled oats because they make the bars chewier. However, I’ve tested these bars with quick oats and they work just fine too!
- Chocolate Chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips are my favorite option for these oatmeal bars, but dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate chips will work. You may also replace the chocolate chips with an equal amount of raisins.
- Eggs: Note that the recipe calls for two whole eggs and one egg yolk. That extra yolk keeps the bars moist and prevents them from being too crumbly. You can either discard the leftover egg white or use it another recipe like my candied almonds, candied pecans, or coconut cupcakes.
- Sugar: I used a blend of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe. Brown sugar adds moisture and even more flavor to the bars.
How To Make Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugars. Then, stir in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.
- Add the oats and stir to combine, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookie dough into a parchment paper-lined 9×13-inch baking dish. Bake until the top of the bars are set and lightly golden brown in color.
Recipe Variations
This is a flexible recipe that can be made with a variety of mix-ins. You can easily replace some or all of the chocolate chips with one of the following:
- Chopped nuts (raw or toasted)
- Dried fruit (raisins, dried blueberries, dried cranberries, etc.)
- Peanut butter chips
- Butterscotch chips
- Toffee chips
- M&M’s (use different colors to match the season or holiday)
- Chopped chocolate or candy bars
Baking Tips
- After melting the butter, let it cool for about 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe. You don’t want to melt the sugar or scramble the eggs!
- For softer, gooier bars I recommend baking these closer to 25 minutes. If you want firmer bars, then bake them closer to 30 minutes.
- As much as I love warm cookies straight from the oven, you can’t properly slice and serve these oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars before they’ve had a chance to cool down. Let them cool in the pan before lifting them all the way out and slicing.
Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled for 10 minutes (230 grams; 2 sticks)
- 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour spooned & leveled (190 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats (250 grams)
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (270 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy removal. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined. Then, whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until well combined.
- Mix in the rolled oats until just combined, then gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookie dough into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out into one even layer.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the tops of the bars are set and lightly browned. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan.
- Once the bars have cooled, lift them out of the pan using the overhang from the foil/parchment paper. Slice into bars and enjoy!
I did something wrong! These are way too sweet and not setting up. I live by your recipes, as they are the best! So I’m taking the blame. Way too many chocolate chips in mine also, and I did 1 1/2 cups.
Hi, Len! Did you double check all of the measurements that you used? Specifically the butter, flour, sugar, and oats? The bars will still be a little soft when they come out of the oven, but they will set up more as they cool.
Will this work with gluten free flour?
As long as it’s one that substitutes 1:1 for all-purpose flour, I think it would be okay.