June 30, 2022
It’s really difficult to test my recipes when my kids aren’t home to give their opinions. Mia is off doing an internship at college, and Eli is at camp. So these bars were tested by an outside group. Basically, I gave them out to friends and asked for input.
These oaty, fudgey bars were called a slice of heaven. I was told by one friend that they are reminiscent of a treat sometimes found at Starbucks or other coffee houses. There’s a special balance of flavors between the oats and the fudge that force you to cut “just a little bit more”.
There are too part to this recipe. A crust and the fudge. Some of you will question if you can use pre-made fudge from a jar. I bet you can, but the fudge is so easy to make that you shouldn’t bother with the pre-made stuff. Seriously.
The trick to these are to absolutely, 100% let them cool completely before cutting them. I say that with a straight face, but in all honesty I couldn’t wait and sliced into them while still warm. While it was a mistake to cut them early because they broke a bit, it was soooooo worth it. So if you can, let them cool before cutting, but if you can’t (wink, wink) I totally understand.
Oaty Fudge Bars
INGREDIENTS
Crust
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (light or dark) brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
3 cups rolled or quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
Fudge
1 can sweetened condensed milk (cans are usually 300ml)
2 cups milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter (cut into 4-5 pieces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Position oven rack in the bottom third of he oven. Use a 9 x 13 inch pan and grease it with baking spray. Next, line the pan with parchment paper leaving extra hanging over to act as a sling so it is easy to lift the bars out of the pan later.
For the Crust
In a medium size bowl combine the flour, oats, and baking soda.
In the bowl of a standing mixer using the paddle attachment, on medium speed cream together the butter and both sugars (about 3 minutes). Next, with the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to mix until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Continuing on low, add the flour mixture until combined.
Use 2/3 of the batter to make the bottom crust. You can use moistened hands to do this and smush the batter evenly across the pan, making sure to reach the corners and sides. Set aside the last 1/3 of batter.
For the Fudge
In a saucepan on the stovetop, add the sweetened condensed milk, the chocolate chips, the cut up butter and the vanilla extract. Cook on low, making sure your ingredients don’t burn. Keep stirring on low heat until all the ingredients have melted together and the mixture sort of pulls away from the sides of the saucepan when you stir it.
Pour the melted fudge over the top of the prepared crust. With a wooden spoon smooth it out across the entire crust. (Or over as much of it as you can!)
Now take the last 1/3 of batter and rip off one chunk at a time. Smoosh it between your hands and flatten it out, placing it on top of the fudge. Continue to do this until you have no batter left. It will almost look like islands of batter in a sea of fudge. The gaps are normal and the chocolate will show out.
Bake for 30 minutes. You know it’s done when the oaty part has browned and the chocolate part is glossy.
Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire cooling rack. Here’s the tough part. You have to WAIT FOR IT TO COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE LIFTING OUT OF THE PAN OR CUTTING IT!!!!
Once fully cooled, lift the sides of the parchment paper. Place your masterpiece on a cutting board and cut into squares. Now you can eat it!