Jam-packed with oats, nuts and plenty of gooey chocolate, these simple ultra-chewy snack bars are the best way to energize on a busy weekday!
We’re into snack season now, guys. Eat, live and breaaaath all the snacks.
Mostly eat though, if we’re being completely honest here.
While at the same time we’re cranking out the snacks, obviously we’re still trying to squeeze ALL the last summery things into the last week of August.
The struggle is REAL, people!
I might be just SLIGHTLY bipoler regarding this whole see-ya-summer-hey-there-fall ‘thang.
Pumpkin. Tomatoes. Apples. Zucchini. <—- My brain right now. (eek)
As much as I’m desperately trying to hold on to summer, I can’t help but be excited for all things FALL. Actually, in my mind fall is basically already here since I started school yesterday.
Mixed feelings about that actually. Seriously SO pumped about all the fun stuff that’s in store for me this semester, but at the same time kinda nervous about how different my schedule is going to be.
Happy sidenote: I ordered my chef’s uniform yesterday! It cost me a small fortune but I’m kinda cool with that because it’s going to be kinda awesome. My name’s even going to be embroidered on it!
Just call me Chef Sarah, guys. 😉
Now about these bars. Pretty much the most accurate term that comes to mind is just plain addicting. And awesome. And perfect. And omg-I-need-another.
Okay, that WAS more than one….
Speaking of which, I should probably have another of these just to get my clearly scrambled thoughts under control.
*cricket cricket*
I’m back. All is well. Problem solved if you don’t count the crumbs in my keyboard.
Movin’ on…
I got so excited about these bars that I nearly forgot to bring up the tiny little tidbit about them kinda being completely butter-free and all that such awesomeness.
True story, guys. The return of the coconut oil. Read all about part 1 here. 😉
These bars are reminiscent of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, only we’re saving TONS of time here since you don’t have to go to the trouble of shaping the dough. Just mix, press, bake and EAT!
Plus these bars are bigger than your average cookie. Just a little plus. 😀
Ultra, ultra, E-XTRA chewy texture. Jammed to the absolute max with chocolate, oats and all that jazz. Seriously so easy to whip up it’s kinda dangerous…
I should probably just warn you now that your mind is really, really, REALLY just gonna be blown by these bars.
Ka-boom. All over the place.
Tuck these bars into the kiddos school lunchboxes and you’ll pretty much be guaranteed the Parent of the Year Award.
….or…sneak them into YOUR lunchbox and make your Tuesday automatically awesome.
Just between you and me, I’d probably choose that last option. 😉
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Snack Bars
This recipe may included paid links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 3 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil softened
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with tin foil and lightly grease. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat sugar and sugar until creamy. Beat in yogurt, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour mixture to liquid, gently stirring until a dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Press dough evenly into prepared pan. Bake bars at 350F 25-30 minutes or until bars begin to turn golden around the edges. Cool bars completely in pan on a wire cooling rack. Slice bars into squares and serve.
Notes
More snacky inspiration! It’s the most important meal of the day. ♥
Double-Chocolate Quinoa Granola
Healthy Zucchini Oat Breakfast Cookies
Marcie says
I’ve been gone so much this summer that I didn’t realize you were starting culinary school — im SO excited for you! I can’t wait to hear all about it, and enjoy every minute! I really miss it sometimes, so I will re-live it through you ok?? ?. And these bars look fantastic — definitely a must-make!
Sarah says
We will definitely have to swap culinary school stories, Marcie! Thanks for the kind words, friend! 🙂
Carolyn says
I made the Oatmeal Choc. Chip snack bars this morning. Sounded so good, but after “under baking” them, they are very dry. I am wondering if there might be a mistake in the recipe. I followed the recipe exactly but only baked around 18 minutes. I think the flavor is fine, but the texture is way dry. We are fans of “gooey”. My oven temp is right so not sure what I might do differently.
Sarah says
Perhaps you baked these bars in the wrong-size pan? The recipe says to use a 9×13 pan. The bars should definitely not be dry, but just slightly soft and chewy inside.
Carolyn says
I did bake them in a 9 X 13 pan. I hate when I am so convinced that this is “THE” recipe to cut out some of the sugar, and then it is not as I expect. Thank you for listening to my “gripe”.
Lindsey says
Unfortunately, mine turned out “dry” too and not at all chewy like we prefer. I also “under baked them” and they still turned out on the dry side. The flavors were nice though. Honestly, the flour to fat ratio seems off for accomplishing a chewy texture.
Kathy Mader says
Hi, I froze some of these snack bars and then would dump a couple into my smoothie of milk and banana. Tasted very similar to your cinnamon roll smoothie, which you know by now I’m a broken record about. Does this make me a genius??
Sarah says
Oh my GOODNESS. Why have I never tried that?? You can bet that the next time I make these bars, it might be solely for the purpose of throwing ’em in a smoothie. 😉
Kathy Mader says
It works for me…shortcuts!
Arielle says
Made these bars last night and they were a little dry. May have to use a bit more liquid ingredients or less flour. Definitely make sure you use the large chocolate chips – I used the mini ones since that’s all I had and the bars lacked the chocolate flavor. I think I will try this recipe again soon but adjust the measurements slightly.
Sonya says
I adore you and your recipes 🙂 I fell in love with your skinny mocha banana crunch ice cream and left a message on that one too that I made last summer ( I sure wish it was warm enough to make that again) and I am now in love with this recipe too 🙂
I was reading the comments and noticed a few that mentioned it was a bit dry. Now, I don’t know all the ins and outs of baking science but what I do know is that flour and weather need to be considered sometimes. I am currently living in The Netherlands and my flour reacts differently to American recipes at any given time. We live below sea level so sometimes it’s too dang humid over here and then other times..like now in the winter,it’s dry as can be. I’ve learned since moving here that I need to adjust my flours when baking bread and other things…like cookies. So here is my big suggestion..cut the flour in half. I used 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour and they turned out perfect. You could do 2 cups and still be fine in my opinion. It could be that wherever you are that your flour and weather also needed to be taken into consideration.
With that being said..these are fantastic! I am always looking for ways to cut down on butter and loved the addition of yogurt in here. I happened to have a little over 1/4 cups worth of natural peanut butter and about a heaping 1/2 cup of shredded coconut that also needed using..So I tossed those in and my husband and two sons couldn’t get enough.
You know what? your mocha banana ice cream on top of one of these bars would be epic..lol Thank you for another wonderful recipe!!
Sarah says
Oh my gosh, Sonya, you are SO sweet to leave such a detailed comment about your baking experience with these bars! Thank you for taking the time to do that. 🙂 I really hope you enjoyed these bars and BRING ON summer for when you can have both the bars and the ice cream right?? 🙂 Have a great rest of the weekend!