True story:
I was once on national television… in my underwear. 😕
It was when I was 5 years old, on a popular children’s show similar to Sesame Street. The goal of the segment was to teach young children how to get dressed by themselves: this was in the early 90s, therefore footage is thankfully not immortalized online.
Possibly even more fun than the filming process was when the show aired and everyone reconvened for a viewing party. One child’s mother brought in three plates of gooey chocolate chip cookie bars for the occasion, and not a single person left that day without having asked for the recipe. The bars would become a staple in my childhood home for many years afterwards.
Today’s recipe is a healthy makeover of those addictive chocolate chip cookie bars.
I played around to find the perfect amount of applesauce to lower the fat, calories, and sugar while still maintaining the bars’ seductively gooey texture. The subtly-strong flavor of the surprise ingredient—molasses!—takes these bars completely over the top.
They are sure to win you over!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups spelt or all-purpose flour (180g) (oat flour works; the texture is just a bit gummier)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup rolled oats (20g)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or date sugar (90g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup chocolate chips, depending on how chocolatey you want the bars to be
- 1/2 cup vegetable or coconut oil (80g)
- 1/2 cup applesauce (120g)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (9g)
- pinch stevia, or 2 tbsp sugar of choice
- 3 tbsp blackstrap or regular molasses (43g)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line the bottom of an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, then set aside. In a mixing bowl, stir together the first 6 ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together all liquid ingredients, then pour wet over dry and stir to form a batter. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes. Makes 15-24 squares, depending on how large you cut them. (The ones in the photos are cut from 24.) I love the unique molasses flavor in these bars, but you can always substitute pure maple syrup or agave or honey (vegans don’t use honey) if you’d prefer.
Link Of The Day:
Gorgeous author photo!
Ahhh Katie these look awesome! What a great treat!
These sound amazing, I love anything with oatmeal or chocolate and these bars sound like the perfect portable afternoon snack;)
I guess being on TV in your underwear is a small price to pay for a delicious dessert recipe? 😛 These look amazing, can’t wait to try!
First off, I cannot say how proud I am that you chose a Minnesotan photographer (Go Minnesota!!).
Secondly, I cannot wait to try out this recipe. Multiplied by 4 or 5 batches, approximately.
I didn’t realize she was a Minnesota photographer! Whoa! CooL!
I thought it was an extreme long shot to get her to come to Texas, but I was very lucky. Her work is amazing!
I love the little oats shining through in these 😉 I love a good oat bar and of course chocolate chips are always mandatory 😀
These are calling my name…I must make them sometime this week! Beautiful picture by the way.
Katie, you look SO pretty! Beautiful picture. And I can’t wait to try the recipe! 🙂
You look happy, healthy & gorgeous!
Oh yum! These look amazing, and so worth trying out!
These look so delicious and you look STUNNING!!!
You are the absolute prettiest and such an incredible person, I’m so glad we met and became BFF <3 <3 <3
Haha, that’s hilarious! And those bars look fan-freakin-tastic.
Wow, Katie! I was just thinking of how you should try making cookie bars! I have two questions, can I bake these in a 9×13? They seem very thick so I was wondering if that was possible. Also, can I use coconut sugar in the place of the brown sugar? Thank you so much for the recipe, and you are absolutely stunning!
I’ve not tried the 9×13 idea, so if you try it be sure to report back. You can definitely sub coconut sugar; just be sure it is packed.
Thank you so much, Katie! Have a great day! 🙂
Hi Katie!
I was wondering if you have an alternative to molasses. I see it in many of your recipes, but I don’t think we have something similar here in Belgium (at least not in a regular supermarket).
Very nice picture btw!
Hi, Lauren! Katie said in the post you can substitute pure maple syrup, honey, or agave for the molasses. 🙂
Oh wow I did not notice that she already gave substitute options. Thanks!
Hi Lauren! If you live in Vlaanderen, “keukenstroop” is probably what you’ll need. It’s exactly the same as molasses but we use a different name! Good luck 😉
To The belgian woman: molasses are kandijsiroop in dutch. There in The oven now 🙂
That’s a beautiful photo of you Katie! These cookie bars look delicious and it’s so funny that you remember them even though you had them when you were 5. I love those oats poking out.