Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Bars are made with a thick chocolate ganache in between two layers of a soft and chewy oatmeal cookie recipe. This cookie bar recipe is absolutely amazing!
Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Bars add chocolate to a delicious oatmeal cookie. I absolutely love oatmeal cookies, but I do like them with a little bit of chocolate. The fudgy, chocolate ganache layer in the middle of these cookie bars is soooo good. And so simple to make too. You may even want to double the fudge layer so that you can eat half of it with a spoon. Or maybe that’s just me.
I love making bar cookies because it circumvents the scooping and baking of multiple trays of individual cookies. I like to make cookie bars when I’m short on time. This recipe only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and makes enough cookies for a large crowd!
Ingredients in Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Oatmeal Cookie Layers
- 3 cups quick oats
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
Fudge Layer
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp butter
How to make Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter for 2-3 minutes until whipped. Add brown sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix just until barely combined. Set aside while making the chocolate layer.
In a medium saucepan, mix all of the chocolate fudge ingredients together over low heat. Stir until everything is melted and smooth and then remove from heat.
Press 2/3 of the oatmeal cookie dough into the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Spread the chocolate fudge over the oatmeal layer and then drop the remaining oatmeal cookie dough over the top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top begins to lightly brown. Let cool completely before cutting. They can be stored and served at room temperature, but they are delicious cold from the fridge as well!
What type of oats to use in oatmeal cookie bars?
I like to use quick oats in this recipe, but you can use old-fashioned oats if you prefer. The cookie bars will be chewier, but still delicious!
How to soften butter
If you have time, just leave butter out on the counter for about 1-2 hours before making your cookies. If you are like me and don’t plan your cookie cravings that far in advance, just place the butter in your microwave and soften in 5 second intervals, being very careful to pull it out before it melts. I actually like to use the defrost setting on my microwave to soften butter- I don’t know the technical reasons behind it, but it seems to soften the butter more evenly and takes a little bit longer so I’m less likely to start melting it!
Like cookie bars! Here are some of our favorite bar cookie recipes!
- Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie Bars
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- No Bake Cookie Bars
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
- Swirled Patriotic Cookie Bars
Fudgy Oatmeal Cookie Bars are made with a thick chocolate ganache in between two layers of a soft and chewy oatmeal cookie recipe. This cookie bar recipe is absolutely amazing!
Doesn’t this picture just make you smile?! We took all the kids to the beach the other night because the weather was beautiful and we wanted to try to get some pictures by the water. This little one hasn’t been to the beach before and all she wanted to do was go in the water. Which would be fine if we lived somewhere besides Western Washington, where the beaches are extremely rocky and the water is a balmy 44° year-round. No thanks! We did let her get her feet wet and the frigid water didn’t even begin to deter her. She just wanted to keep going…and I didn’t want to follow her in so our beach trip didn’t last very long. Good thing this little stubborn 17-month old is so stinkin’ cute!
Beth says
I see oatmeal so this is a breakfast dish, right 😉 I could eat this whole pan on my own and I just may!
Kaylie says
Haha absolutely! Love it! Thank you, Beth
Claudia Lamascolo says
These are so delicious and addicting we all love them
Kaylie says
Thank you, Claudia!
Taylor says
How long do these keep in the fridge
Also I’d like to say these are amazing
Nellie says
They’ve never lasted very long in our house, but they should be fine for up to about a week in the fridge.
Diane says
I made these earlier tonight.
They turned out amazing. Yum
My husband likes walnuts in the sweets I bake and the last oatmeal cookie bar I made I forgot to add the walnuts, he was eating them on the side. Anyway, I remembered, I added about a cup of chopped walnuts. He was very happy with my newly discovered recipe😋 thank you
Not only did I add the walnuts but had some ganache from a previous recipe so, I used my ganache and it was still good but I bet your recipe for the ganache would have been better
My question is where is the print button for the recipe? Thank you so much. Can’t wait to have some with milk for breakfast
Kaylie says
Hi Diane, so glad you enjoyed these! There is a print button at the very top of the page, under the title, and there is another one at the top of the recipe card about halfway down the page, also under the title. Hope this helps!