Dark Chocolate, Raspberry, and Oat Cookie Bars are chewy oat bars with a layer of creamy dark chocolate and topped with a raspberry and chocolate crumble.
First, a moment to celebrate the fact that the little ladies slept from 7pm to 3am last night. I fed them, declared them the best babies that ever lived, and put them back to bed. The good night's sleep resulted in lots of smiles when they woke up again at 6. I ate half of one of these Oat Cookie Bars and daydreamed about getting more sleep.
Of course, who needs sleep when there are these little faces to look at? (And because the grandmas will ask....Clara is the top pic and Molly is the bottom).
Small victories around here. A few hours of sleep. A home-cooked dinner (well...from the freezer). An hour to bake and blog.
After several years in the land of eternal summer, I still get nostalgic for American summers with cook-outs and sunroofs, flip-flops and sprinklers. Over the weekend, I missed home. I wished we could take the girls out for their first Fourth of July celebration with family. Although, let's be honest, the girls aren't exactly in the market for barbecue or fireworks. The stuffed animals that dangle over their play mat are more than enough stimulation at the moment.
Had we attended a Fourth of July event this weekend, these bars would have been my contribution. Summer berries and extra dark chocolate give them a hint of that bitter/sour thing to balance the sweetness.
About Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars
The recipe is part of this month's Secret Recipe Club and is adapted from one shared by Lisa over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies. I loved everything about it. Although the bars were originally meant as a holiday dessert, their simplicity and endless possibilities for variety (I substituted summer-friendly fruit and chocolate where the original used M&Ms) would make it perfect for any time of year.
The best part about this recipe is that creamy dark chocolate layer between the chewy crust and the crumbly topping. Thank you for the great recipe, Lisa!!
More Fun Snack Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Sweet and Salty Snack Mix
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Apple Cider Donut Mini Muffins
Favorite Tools
- Glass Mixing Bowls
- Half Sheet Pans
- OXO Silicon Spatula Set
- Parchment Paper
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Wire Cooling Rack
- Set of Cookie Scoops (1 Tbsp, 2 Tbsp, 3 Tbsp)
Dark Chocolate, Raspberry, and Oat Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Parchment Paper
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rolled Oats
- 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 8 ounces Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped and divided into two portions (200 g)
- 1 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 ½ cup Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray a 13x9 pan and line with parchment paper, so that paper extends over the long side of the pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir until evenly combined.
- Add melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon (or use your hands if the butter is cool enough) until the mixture is crumbly.
- Set aside 2 cups of oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into prepared pan.
- Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Put half (100g) of the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 15 second intervals until just melted.
- Stir in the sweetened condensed milk until well combined. Pour the chocolate-condensed milk mixture over the cooked crust.
- Add the remaining dark chocolate (100g) and raspberries to the uncooked oat mixture. Sprinkle over the top of the bars.
- Bake until golden brown, 28-30 minutes. Cool completely and refrigerate before cutting into squares.
Notes
Recipe generously adapted from Sweet as Sugar Cookies.
Sawsan@ Chef in disguise
It is all about small victories with kids 🙂
I remember daydreaming about more sleep 🙂 Hang in there. It will get better soon
I love everything about these cookie bars! If I had chocolate I would make them immediately! Pinned to try soon, thank you for the inspiration Jess
Katie (The Muffin Myth)
Ooooh, these look good! I'm headed back to Canada in a couple of weeks for some family time and my sister's wedding. I've got these bookmarked for the girl's night before the wedding - they look pretty much perfect!
Neuf
These look awesome! Champion sleepers! It only gets better from here!
Sarah
Those are beautiful. And look delicious. I'm not sure we need a holiday BBQ to give those a try!
Nicole
Oh my goodness these look heavenly. Yum! Pretty sure they must happen in my kitchen. Great pick.
Also congrats on getting little miss to sleep most of the night, she is absolutely precious!!
Katrina
Those look delicious! Raspberry and chocolate is one of my favorite combos! I feel like I could and should and need to make these gluten free.
Francesca
These look great Jess. And the Oat bars, too 🙂
Anna
These look absolutely amazing! I am definitely going to have to try them soon.
Sara
YUM! These look amazing! Such a great SRC pick.
Debra
Wow, simply divine looking. I am also imagining these with cherries, blueberries, or blackberries. Peaches and white chocolate?
Ashley
Gosh they are so so adorable!!! I love seeing all these pictures of them 🙂
And these bars look amazing - chocolate, raspberry, crumble topping??? I'll take a few please!
Leigh
What gorgeous little girls you have and what a wonderful pick for this month's recipe! 🙂
krisitne
Oh boy these look amazing~ I need to try them!
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings
These bars look delicious and your little ones adorable!
sarah k @ the pajama chef
awww, your little girls are too cute! these cookie bars sound great- can't go wrong with berries & chocolate!
Jamie
These look so good! I love berries that are in dessert bars!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
these look seriously SO good.. definitely going to go and bake my own batch right now. love it!
Karista
Awww... I love seeing pictures of your darling little girls. Fabulous oat bars too! but I must say, your darlings steal the show. 🙂
Tracy | PeanutButter and Onion
Yay for sleep and smiles! Gonna get on these bars, after I tweek the wheat out.
Vicky Jones
I've just taken these out of the oven and they look and smell divine. I won't be able to eat them myself due to dietry restrictions but the chocolate raspberry combo is my partners favourite so looking forward to getting her feedback! Thank you for the recipe.
Mindy
These are SOOOOOOOOO good!!!! Sweet mother!
Mirza
These recipe not only look beatiful and yummy but you can say it is also healthy. 😉 I must try it.
aztrophywife
These are fantastic! I made them with semi-sweet chocolate and a mix of blueberries and strawberries as that was what I had on hand, Love the fruit and chocolate mix. Thanks for a great recipe.