You’re going to love these buttery and chewy oatmeal cookie bars with a thick af fudge filling. These oatmeal fudge bars are the chocolate oatmeal bars of your dreams.
You’re going to love these buttery and chewy oatmeal cookie bars with a thick af fudge filling. These oatmeal fudge bars are the chocolate oatmeal bars of your dreams.
Oatmeal Fudge Bars
I know people are really into peanut butter and chocolate (and believe me, I am also into this. like REALLY into it), personally I feel chocolate’s real soulmate is oatmeal. And after taking a bite of these chocolate oatmeal bars with a thick fudge ripple, you’ll have to agree. The combination of the buttery, toasty, hearty oatmeal cookie and rich, creamy fudge is the type of flavor combo that leaves you thinking about these oatmeal cookie bars anytime you have a hankering for anything sweet.
What ingredients do you need for chocolate oatmeal bars?
Most of the ingredients in these oatmeal fudge bars are pantry staples you probably already have on hand! If you don’t have something on hand, you can always swap out for what you do! Check out all our favorite baking substitutions here!
Butter
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
All Purpose Flour
Old Fashioned Oats
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Chocolate Chips
Tips for the best Oatmeal Fudge Cookie Bars
These easy oatmeal cookie bars are pretty straight forward to make, so I don’t anticipate you having any problems. You make a basic oatmeal cookie dough and a quick, no candy thermometer homemade fudge. Follow these 3 simple steps for the best oatmeal cookie bars!
Line the pan with parchment paper: Our favorite way to line pans is ALWAYS with parchment paper. It provides a clean, even, stick free surface every time! We absolutely love using these precut sheets to save time.
Only stir the fudge in one direction: To prevent your fudge layer from splitting, try to only stir the fudge in one direction. This will keep your fudge glossy and thick instead of oily!
Don’t over bake the chocolate oatmeal bars: The number one rule in cookie bar baking is don’t over bake your bars. You want a crisp and crunchy exterior and an ooey, gooey, chewy center.
How to store chocolate oatmeal bars?
One of the best things about these oatmeal cookie bars is that they keep very well! You can store them in an air tight container for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. These bars freeze super well because of their moist and fudgy texture. They taste delicious straight from the freezer, so I love whipping up a double batch in a 9 x 13″ pan and freezing half for sneaking midnight snacks over the next month.
Happy oatmeal fudge bar eating, babies. What else is there to do right now anyways other than bake and eat delicious treats? Who’s with me?
1/2 cup (half a 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8×8″ square pan with parchment paper on all sides. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fit with paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla extract and eggs, mixing until completely combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.
Scrape down the bowl and divide the oatmeal cookie dough in half. Press half of the dough into an even layer into your prepared pan and set the other.
Make the fudge layer. In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and butter. Whisk together until completely smooth. Take off the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla extract. The mixture will be glossy and thick.
Spread the fudge mixture over the oatmeal cookie layer using an offset spatula or a spoon. Crumble the remain cookie dough over the fudge mixture, leaving some areas of fudge uncovered.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the oatmeal bars are light golden brown. Allow to cool completely before slicing into 16 bars and serving.
These are the ONE – I made a double batch and froze half as a gift to my current self. The ratio of cookie to filling is perfect – I did refrigerate both cookie dough and filling for about 1 hour before assembling and baking as the dough was very soft (my butter was really soft) and I didn’t want the filling to seep through. I had no problems with this with the cooled dough and filling and had nicely defined layers. The dough was also a bit tricky to spread in the pan but just needed some patience and perseverance! I’m now wondering what else I can put this filling in…
Hi Rosie! Thank you so much for your sweet comment and sharing how much you love this recipe. We love it too. I LOVE saving treats for your current self haha.
Is it one egg or two? The ingredients say one but the directions say add the “eggs.” Thanks for clarifying. I borrowed the condensed milk from a friend just so I can make these – and of course, will share with her. 🙂
I have made dairy free magic bar recipe that has you cook down a can of coconut milk with 1/3 cup of honey instead of using sweetened condensed ed milk.
Hi Sara! Unfortunately I’ve never tried to sub it out! I know you can make your own by cooking down milk and sweetening it. You could also always switch up the fudge, and make a chocolate ganache with chocolate chips and cream (I’d probably do 2 cups of chocolate milk + 1/2 cup of cream, but have never tried it for this exact recipe so I can’t be sure). OR you can omit the fudge layer altogether and just fold chocolate chips into the batter. They’re still delicious 🙂
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
can you use a hand held mixer
These are the ONE – I made a double batch and froze half as a gift to my current self. The ratio of cookie to filling is perfect – I did refrigerate both cookie dough and filling for about 1 hour before assembling and baking as the dough was very soft (my butter was really soft) and I didn’t want the filling to seep through. I had no problems with this with the cooled dough and filling and had nicely defined layers. The dough was also a bit tricky to spread in the pan but just needed some patience and perseverance! I’m now wondering what else I can put this filling in…
★★★★★
Hi Rosie! Thank you so much for your sweet comment and sharing how much you love this recipe. We love it too. I LOVE saving treats for your current self haha.
Is it one egg or two? The ingredients say one but the directions say add the “eggs.” Thanks for clarifying. I borrowed the condensed milk from a friend just so I can make these – and of course, will share with her. 🙂
Just one! Sorry about the confusion!
By mistake I used whole can of condensed milk…… they turned out great…..even more decadent!
Happy to hear that that works too haha! So happy you liked these 🙂
Anyway I can substitute condensed milk for something else? I can’t find it here right now unfortunately.
I have made dairy free magic bar recipe that has you cook down a can of coconut milk with 1/3 cup of honey instead of using sweetened condensed ed milk.
Oh that’s great to know! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sara! Unfortunately I’ve never tried to sub it out! I know you can make your own by cooking down milk and sweetening it. You could also always switch up the fudge, and make a chocolate ganache with chocolate chips and cream (I’d probably do 2 cups of chocolate milk + 1/2 cup of cream, but have never tried it for this exact recipe so I can’t be sure). OR you can omit the fudge layer altogether and just fold chocolate chips into the batter. They’re still delicious 🙂