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Making Tuesday a little more special and sweet with these Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. These easy homemade oatmeal cookie bars with chocolate chunks and a warm gooey “caramel” like center are the perfect way to bring something delicious to the average weekday. They’re made with a mix of pantry ingredients…oats, flour, butter, maple, vanilla, and a reduced amount of sugar. Most importantly, everyone LOVES these bars…they’re easy to make, difficult to mess up…and they always turn out GREAT!

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

So, originally these were going to be last Friday’s dessert, but then at the last minute, I panicked and convinced myself that no-one would care about oatmeal bars. NO ONE. So I switched things up…and I LOVE the caramel cake I created so much. Like so much, it’s one of my favorite cakes. I’m so happy I came up with it.

But the funny thing? I sent the oatmeal bars I had made home for my family to enjoy. The next morning, all I heard about from every last person currently staying at their house was just how delicious they were.

I mean, I knew they were good, but I have to say I was a little shocked. Someone even said that these bars are their new favorite dessert. Sooo, I clearly needed to rethink my stance on these bars. And now? With pretty photos and a very ooey-gooey dessert bar to share…I AM EXCITED.

I think it was all meant to play out this way. We got cake on Friday, which was perfect. And easy, sweet oatmeal bars on Tuesday, which feels very right to me.

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

The Back Story

My mom would often bake up oatmeal cookies. These bars totally remind me of something she’d bake up on Friday nights. They feel very “old school”, just like Friday’s cake and I’m loving it.

The idea is based on the dessert bars known as Carmelitas…oatmeal bars with chocolate chips and caramel in the center. I don’t love, love caramel. Especially the overly sugary store-bought candies. So instead of using real caramel, I used my trusty maple-based “caramel” sauce. It’s just as good but much less sugary. And to be honest? We think it’s better than real caramel.

So I put my maple-based caramel in the middle of the oatmeal bars and created my own version of Carmelitas.

Not only are these really easy to make, but they’re a true delight. Especially if you have the privilege of enjoying one warm, right out of the oven. DELICIOUS.

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Here are the simple details.

This recipe requires just one bowl, a pot, and a couple of spoons. It’s completely no-fuss. Start to finish these will take less than an hour. You can’t mess these bars up. They’re that easy and they always turn out great.

In your mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Now, add all of the wet ingredients. Mix away until you have a crumbly dough. Stir in plenty of dark chocolate chunks, then press about half the dough into a baking dish. Bake for a bit to help the bottom layer set.

While that layer is baking, make the gooey layer. I use maple for sweetness, butter for creaminess, and a pinch of salt to create a silky, smooth, sweet, and salty sauce. As soon as the bottom layer has finished baking, pour over the gooey sauce, then crumble on the remaining dough.

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Now finish the baking…

Smell the wonderfulness? Do you see the melty chocolate?

I know that nothing is perfect, but these bars are pretty close. Every bite is just perfectly sweet, chocolatey, and very gooey. When you eat them a little warm, they’re truly addicting. Fair warning…the salt on top really does keep you going back for seconds and thirds.

What I love about these sweet bars is that they’re so easy to make. They require no chilling and truly take almost no time at all. AND…I usually have these ingredients on hand. So when it’s Friday night and the urge for a deliciously warm chocolatey treat comes on? These bars are easy to mix up and deliciously satisfy the urge.

They’re great for all these cold, cold snowy days many of us have been having! This is very cheesy of me to say, but they’ll really warm you right up!

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

Looking for other easy winter desserts? Here are some favorites.

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Healthier Baked Hot Chocolate Doughnuts

5 Minute Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread Mug Cake

Lastly, if you make these Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 12 bars
Calories Per Serving: 311 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Gooey Caramel

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line an 8×8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper. 
    2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until the dough is moist and all the ingredients are combined. The dough will be crumbly. Mix in the chocolate chunks. Press half of the dough evenly into the bottom of a prepared baking dish. Bake 10 minutes.
    3. Meanwhile, make the "caramel". In a medium pot, melt together the butter, brown sugar, and maple over medium heat. Gently boil, stirring constantly until thickened, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in a pinch of salt.
    4. Remove the bars from the oven and pour the caramel over top. Crumble on the remaining oatmeal dough. Bake another 15 to 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let cool completely, then cut into bars…or eat them while warm and gooey with a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
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Gooey Chocolate Oatmeal Bars | halfbakedharvest.com

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Comments

  1. Very sweet, but tasty. However my caramel sauce is grainy? Any idea how to stop this from happening next time?

    1. Hi Rebecca,
      Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for trying it out!! Sorry to hear about your caramel. Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? You want to make sure you are stirring constantly while it boils. ?xx

      1. Hi there! If using butter (instead of melted coconut oil), what is the best consistency for the butter? Would you melt it, keep it room temp, or grate it cold into the dough mixture?

        1. Hey Melanie,
          I would use an equal amount of melted butter:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xxTieghan

    1. Hi Meghan,
      Awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! xx

    1. Hi Travis,
      Wow!! Well sounds like you will need to make a few batches, I think that works better than doubling or tripling baking recipes. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

  2. 5 stars
    This recipe is PERFECT. The most delicious pieces of heavenly goodness imaginable. I made these the week they were posted and have been thinking about them ever since. Going to make another batch today. Yum city.

    1. Hey Jessica,
      Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it!! Have the best week:) xTieghan

  3. 3 stars
    These were quite delicious, but the maple caramel was far too sweet- I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of the 3/4 cup the recipe calls for and it was still tooth-hurtingly sweet. I wonder if this recipe would work if the caramel was made only with the butter and maple? I believe that might make it sweet enough!

    1. Hey Kay,
      Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the caramel. You could make it to your liking or just skip in next time:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

    1. Hi Alison,
      Yes, that will work for you. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

      1. 5 stars
        Just made these with my 4 year old using semi-sweet choc chips and butter instead of the coconut oil & they are AMAZING!! I agree with what others said below regarding consistency, using melted butter, the dough was wet and not ‘crumbly’ maybe adding more oats and flour would offset that. Wish i could attach a photo, they still came out great to eat with a fork or spoon 🙂 thank you! This was easy & quick to make with ingredients we had on hand!

        1. Hi Alison,
          Happy Sunday!! Love to hear that you have enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it!! xx

  4. 5 stars
    I made this three times in one week everyone loved it. I didn’t change a thing…..as with all of your recipes, don’t mess with perfection

    1. Hi Christina,
      Fantastic!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend:) xT

  5. When I missed the wet into the dry ingredients, it became a wet batter rather than a crumbly dough you had. Are you sure that you put 1/2 cup butter in? Bc in the video it looked like less. In an effort to fix it I doubled the rest of the ingredients. It turned out really good, but just slightly dry, but it was really yummy.

    1. Hi Meghan,
      Sorry to hear this, yes all of the measurements are correct. What do you mean wet with dry? For this recipe, you can just add all of the ingredients in step 2, no need to separate them with wet and dry. Maybe this was the issue? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan

    2. These bars are sooo good! My dough was more wet and less crumbly but it came out perfect! I used melted butter and semi sweet chocolate chips. I will be making these again!

      1. Hey Mackenzie,
        Awesome!! I am thrilled to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for giving it a go! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan

  6. 4 stars
    This was delicious! I used a mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate chunks to add dimension. It was wonderful! My batch did initially turn out a little too gooey and was falling apart so I stuck it on the fridge to firm for about 30 minutes it came out perfect!

    1. Hey there,
      Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a go:) xTieghan

  7. 5 stars
    Made this recipe using butter and I am so in love with the results. It is a keeper!! I did add a small handful of grated coconut in the top layer (my batter was a touch wetter than the recipe) and I thought it was great. Honestly, oatmeal and salty chocolate was already a dream match, add the caramel and wow!

    1. Hey Heather,
      Awesome!! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week:) xx

  8. I made these today. They didn’t set up so I can’t cut into squares. The batter was not crumbly. Should I have added more flour? Flavor is great…we’ll spoon out, heat a bit and top with ice cream.

    1. Hi Mary,
      So sorry to hear this, a little more info would be helpful. What do you mean they didn’t set up? The batter should not be super crumbly, what happened when you baked them? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan

      1. The batter was very gooey. I had to bake them about 10 minutes longer than recommended and they still were not the texture of a cookie bar. Difficult to describe but it was like they weren’t done. I’ll try them again and use Robyn’s (below comment) if the batter is too gooey.

        Thanks for the follow up

    1. Hi Anita,
      You really won’t get a maple flavor here, but honey would also work in place of the maple syrup. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan

  9. 5 stars
    Just made these and they are out of this world! So easy to make and so incredibly delicious! The whole family loves them.

    1. Hey Jacki,
      Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Have the best weekend:) xT

  10. My friend Bethany (who has made and shared several of your dishes with us!) made these bars for our Monday games crew (I’m writing this comment while on sitting out a round), and they were a HIT (like all of your other recipes!)! Thanks for consistently putting out high-quality recipes!

  11. I love these, but whenever I pour the caramel over the bottom layer and then continue baking the Carmel boils and just sinks into the bottom to make them super sugary/crispy with no ‘Carmel’ center… what am I doing wrong? Please help 🙂 thank you!!

    1. Hey Katie,
      Thanks for giving the recipe a try! I would let the caramel cool slightly before pouring it, that should help! xTieghan