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A gooey layer of fudge sandwiched between layers of chewy and buttery oatmeal cookies. These bars taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, only somehow, way better!
Oatmeal Bars with Fudge Layer
Everything you love about Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, but even easier (and tastier!) in bar form! I took my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe and tossed it into a 9×9 pan and filled it with my 2 minute fudge recipe and oh. my. goodness. *immediate drooling*
These bad boys are soft, chewy, sweet and surprisingly easy. The hardest part is going to be letting them cool before you cut them. I know you are going to love them!
Ingredients in The Fudge Bars
(A full list of ingredients and their amounts can be found below in the recipe card)
For the Cookies
- Butter- You will want to make sure that the butter is softened so that it creams well with the sugar. I always use salted because that is what I have on hand, but if you use unsalted you can always add a pinch more salt to the recipe.
- Brown Sugar– The brown sugar base is KEY to the caramelly cookie flavor that we want!
- Egg– We only need one egg for this recipe
- Vanilla Extract
- All- Purpose Flour
- Rolled Oats– Use old fashioned, rolled oats here! Not quick oats!
- Salt
- Baking Soda
For the Fudge Filling
- Chocolate Chips- You can use milk or semi sweet chips. Really, just whatever your favorite is!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk– we will use one 14.5 oz can
- Vanilla
- Salt- Just a pinch to cut through the sweetness.
How to Make Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Start by preheating the oven to 350°. Prepare a 9×9 pan by lining it with parchment paper or spraying it with non stick spray.
Pro Tip: If using parchment paper, crinkle the parchment paper into a ball and run it under water. Dry it off with a paper towel and then line your pan. This will make the process so much easier!
With your stand or hand mixer, cream together your butter and brown sugar. Keep mixing until the butter and sugar are smooth, about 2 minutes, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again. Now add your dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix until just combined.
How to make the Fudge Layer
In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and remove from the microwave and stir. Continue heating and stirring at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
Stir in the pinch of salt and the vanilla and stir again.
Assembling the Cookie Bars for Baking
- Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the fudge over the bottom cookie layer.
- Take large pieces of the remaining cookie dough and flatten them in your hands and place them on top of the fudge layer.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until the tops turn a golden brown and the center is set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
Allow the cookie bars to cool completely before cutting. This step, as hated as it is by me, is super important. If you cut them while they are still hot, the fudge will spill and spew everywhere and we want nice bars, not a molten lava mess. 😉
How Long Can I Store The Fudge Bars
If the Oatmeal Fudge Bars are stored in an airtight container the will stay good at room temperature for 3 days! These fudge bars also freeze wonderfully.
How to freeze leftover Oatmeal Fudge Bars
To freeze your leftover bars, first cut them to your desired size. Place all of the bars on a cookie sheet, separating each bar just a bit (so they won’t freeze together). Freeze for about an hour on the sheet. This will freeze the bars just enough to be able to toss the bars into a zip top bag or air tight container without the bars sticking to each other.
They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Easy Fudge Bar Variations
- If you like cinnamon in your oatmeal cookies, feel free to add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to the cookie dough.
- Love chocolate + peanut butter? Add some peanut butter chips to the cookie dough for a fun variation!
- The fudge layer can be made a peanut butter layer by using peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips.
More Cookie Bar Recipes
Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cookie Dough
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare a 9×9 pan by lining it with parchment paper or spraying it with non stick spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth, light in color and fluffy. This will take a few mintues.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the egg add vanilla.
- Once completely combined, stop the mixer and add in the flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt.
- Start mixing slowly and mix until the flour and oats are completely incorportated. Avoid over mixing. Set the cookie dough aside.
- In a medium microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk.
- Microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat this until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in the pinch of salt and vanilla.
- Divide the cookie dough in half and press half into the bottom of your prepared 9×9 pan.
- Pour the chocolate mixture on top of the cookie dough and spread to cover evenly.
- Take large portions of the remaining cookie dough, flatten them in your hand and then place on top of the chocolate.
- Bake in your 350° oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the center is just set. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
- Let the cookie bars cool COMPLETELY before cutting.
- Cut the bars into your desired size and serve.
- Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.
I made this recipe for the first time last night and it is my favorite baked dessert! My husband also absolutely loves it! Winner winner! Thank you!
I live in Germany and made this die my coworkers and they all loved it so much! This is one I’m keeping for the family recipe book!
These are excellent! You were right the hardest part is letting them cool 😏 I have a question, for brown sugar, do you pack it much? I typically don’t and all my recipes turn out well, but I always wonder what would happen if I really packed it in there.
Question, what would happen if you used quick oats? I have tons of it. Lol
That should be fine- sometimes quick oats will make things spread more but since these are bars you should be okay!