GUILT FREE Chewy Chocolate Oat Bars!

Whenever I zip off to a picnic, a birthday or want to bake a little something for a friend, this is my immediate go-to recipe.  These bars are gooey, chewy and extremely moist.  They’re not blondie-like (they’re not light and fluffy), but they’re denser from the whole wheat flour, oat bran and oats and a hefty few scoops of flax seed meal.   They also keep wonderfully as leftovers, but not to sound too boastful, but I don’t think you’ll have leftovers very long!  These bars are just plain ADDICTIVE!  I think this is my biggest “hit” dessert recipe.

Below I’ve included a recipe for 12 bars in one 8×8″ pan.  However, I always triple the recipe (these bars freeze marvelously, too) so I don’t have any leftover sweetened condensed milk lurking on the top shelf of my fridge.  Also, when I triple the ingredients, I never triple the brown sugar – instead of 2 + 1/4 cups, I measure approximately 1 + 3/4 cup.

Lastly, if you have a chocolate allergy (as a dear member of my family has) or prefer to forgo the chocolate, try exchanging it with peanut butter (or preferred nut butter) and melt it with the sweetened condensed milk.  I just made a PB batch last week and it was very good, too.  I used a little less PB than I would chocolate because of the strong flavor, but feel free to experiment.  For my single batch I would use 1/3 of a cup; for a triple batch, 1 cup.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (at least 60%)
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (full fat preferred)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons quick oatmeal
1 heaping tablespoon ground flax seed
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup veg oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons softened butter

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8×8″ pan.  I recommend the vegan butter alternative, “Smart Balance.”

2. Mix the flour, bran, flax, oatmeal (except the 2 tablespoons), soda, powder, and set aside.

3. Mix egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla.  Then combine with the dry MINUS the 2 tablespoons of oatmeal.

4.  Once liquid and dry are mixed, take 1/3 cup of the dough and set aside.

5. Put remaining dough into the greased pan.

6. Heat the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a sauce pan over low heat (or in a double boiler).  Cook, stirring, until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted.

7. Spread chocolate mixture over dough.

8.  In leftover dough, mix in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oatmeal.  Mix with a fork until crumbly.  Drop small spoonfuls (or just crumble) the mixture on top of the chocolate spread.

9.  Bake between 18-24 minutes until edges are golden.  Let set for at least 5 minutes.  These bars are wonderful at room temperature (and as I mentioned above, they keep well for days) but my favorite is eating them after about 15 minutes of cooling, when they’re not too hot, but the middle layer is warm and gooey.