Jam-packed with tender oats and plenty of gooey chocolate, these oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars have a soft and chewy texture thanks to browned butter and bake up in only 30 minutes.
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If I had to choose one bar to make for the rest of my life, it would hands-down, be this recipe.
I mean, oatmeal, chocolate, AND browned butter all in one dessert that comes together in minutes flat? Say less and just pass the pan on over my way.
These bars are kinda similar in method to blondies, but they’ve got a little more texture to them thanks to the oats that I absolutely love. It adds a distinct chewiness that pairs so well with all that gooey chocolate business.
These Bars Feature…
- And incredibly soft and chewy texture
- A rich browned butter flavor
- Gooey chocolate chips and tender oats
Making The Bars
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Oats
- Kosher salt
- Semisweet chocolate chips
How to Brown Butter
The trick to browning butter is letting it cook slowly. Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally until butter is a deep golden brown and fragrant. Allow the butter to cool slightly before adding to other ingredients.
Tips for Perfect Oatmeal Bars
- Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife. For the most accurate measuring method, I recommend weighing your flour and other dry ingredients.
- Don’t add leavening agents – I found that leavening agents like baking soda and baking powder made the edges of the bars rise while the center collapsed during baking. The bars will have a soft and evenly-distributed texture without.
- Gently fold batter – overmixing will lead to dry and tough bars so use a gentle hand when folding batter.
- Don’t overbake bars – they are done when the edges are a light golden-brown. The very middle of blondies should still be a little soft.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on these bars.
- Add salt – sprinkle bars with a little flaky sea salt after baking for a sweet and salty flavor.
- Use another chocolate – try dark chocolate, white chocolate, or a cut-up chocolate bar in place of the chocolate chips.
- Add nuts – fold 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts into the batter.
- Drizzle bars – try topping bars with a drizzle of caramel or butterscotch sauce after cooling.
Storing and Freezing Bars
Allow bars to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.
To freeze bars, allow to cool completely at room temperature, wrap well, and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw bars completely on countertop before serving.
Word to the wise: hide a few of these bars for yourself before you make their presence known to others because they WILL be snapped up in moments. No one can resist all that gooey chocolate.
I certainly can’t. BRB.
More easy bars to bake next!
Save this recipe for later using the ‘save to recipe box’ button. If you make it, please let me know by leaving a comment + star rating below the recipe card. This only takes moments and helps support my website so much!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
This recipe may included paid links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (180g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (135g) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 cup (100g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan 3-5 minutes until butter is a deep golden brown. Remove from heat and allow butter to cool 5 minutes.
- Pour browned butter into a large bowl and whisk in both sugars. Whisk in egg and vanilla until smooth. Fold in flour, oats, salt, and chocolate chips until batter is just combined.
- Spread batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake blondies at 350F 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden-brown (the middle will still be slightly soft).
- Cool bars completely on a wire cooling rack before slicing into squares and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 9/3/26.
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!