This week’s TWD was selected by Lillian of Confectiona’s Realm: chocolate oatmeal almost-candy bars! I actually made these ahead of time (read: not on Tuesday) thanks to a gentle nudge from my Twitter friends, yet here I am writing the post at the last minute. It seems procrastination finds me one way or the other…
These bars are loaded with goodness – butter, brown sugar, oats, chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, raisins and peanuts! I had an inkling that these were going to be too rich for me just looking at the ingredient list. I also read a few early reviews of the bars on the P&Q’s this week which confirmed they were indeed a very rich treat. I absolutely love the combination of chocolate and raisins but since I knew I likely wouldn’t eat many of these myself, I skipped the raisins to give them more universal appeal. I also left the nuts out.
I made a half recipe in an 8″ pan and man, once you get all the ingredients in there, these are heavy! I baked them for about 20 minutes, cooled them completely and then followed Dorie’s recommendation to refrigerate for an hour before cutting them. At one hour in the fridge they weren’t tough to cut, just firm enough for the knife to slide through without the chocolate layer getting too soft. I sampled a small bite and while I liked them, especially the oatmeal layer, the chocolate layer was just WAY too rich for me. This is actually a good thing since I’ve eaten my weight in desserts the past few days – I’m more than happy to have this one sitting around that won’t tempt me at all. I stuck them in my freezer and will send them to work with Shane eventually.
Thanks to Lillian for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her blog or on pages 114-115 of Dorie’s book.
Lemon Bars
Glazed Grapefruit Cake
Orange Sherbet
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
Smart…. half the recipe. This made a TON of bars! Good, but sheesh! These look truly delicious – even without the raisins (which I wished I hadn’t added)!
Your bars look perfect!! They are so beautiful and yummy-looking. They do look rich, though. I can understand why they were heavy.
Ciao ! I hoped they were too much for me too but no ! i ‘ve to give them away fast !
I haven’t tried this recipe in Dorie’s book, but thanks for the heads up on the chocolate. When I get around to baking this one, I might reduce the chocolate amount.
I think I like them “plain”. Not that I tasted them that way. I knew they wouldn’t get eaten with raisins, so I used pecans, and caramel and yep, they’re really good, but really bad! The boys are loving them!
Good job getting it done, Tracey!
Yay for the freezer! That’s where my bars are also; I’m going to send those with a bunch of other bars to the homeless ministry at my church. The raisins/dried fruit cut the richness a bit, I think.
I gave these all away too, but tried a tiny little slice.
Yours are beautiful- great pics!
I should have halved the recipe too. I liked them, but didn’t love them. Yours look gorgeous~
they look great, I’m sure your husband’s coworkers will enjoy them!
Those bars look delicious… I can understand how they might be a bit rich, though. I think my hubby would like them, though.
LOVE these!!!
I haven’t tried these yet. Man they look rich! Great photos!
Ha! I’ve eaten more than my weight in desserts lately – and I agree, the chocolate layer was a bit too much for me.
They look really pretty. I haven’t tried one yet but my husband really liked them.
I divvied these up three ways: 2 pieces in the fridge for me for a chocolate emergency, half to work with me, and the remaining half to work with the fiancee. he took them to work this morning and he said they disappeared in 3 minutes flat. I consider that a personal victory
Your bars look great as always.
Ps. they are less rich if you stick em in the fridge for a few hours/over night. Pretend I didn’t say that. You probably don’t need the push towards this dessert
Your bars look picture perfect Tracey.
Your photos are so beautiful!
Those do look deliciously rich. Good idea on making half the recipe. What did you do with half a can of sweetened condensed milk?
I have read a few people who did not like the chocolate and I just realized that since I left out the condensed milk, that may be why, I found it fine.
Yours look delicious. I got rid of mine quickly, so I would not eat them but my class thought they were fantastic. If they are happy, it was worth making them.
These are big heavy bars. Yours look lovely and the co-workers will no doubt be thrilled to get them.
Your bars look awesome!
WOW! Some of the best bars I’ve seen today… very, very well done Tracey!
I halved this one too and I was glad I did. It really does make a ton of bars!! Your look great!
Your bars look great! I made a half-batch too and it made a ton. I totally put off my post till the last minute tonight, too, even though I had yesterday off. I ate around the chocolate – definitely too rich.
Your bars look great! I apparently can’t follow directions, and didn’t chill mine before cutting. So they don’t look nearly as nice as yours. =) But they were still tasty. I like the raisins a lot, but you could probably go with a different dried fruit if you don’t like them. Like Nancy said, the fruit helps cut the richness somewhat.
I am wondering when the day will come when I can make a half batch of something like this…probably never as I can see me sending these off to college and then sending them home with them when they come to visit. I can see this recipe lasting a long, long time around here. Yours look wonderful. You have such a way of styling!
Your bars look excellent. We really enjoyed these at my house.
Wow your bars turned out beautifully! It is always nice to have a few desserts stashed away in the freezer- you never know when you might need them!
Tracey, these are so stunning! Your bars are perfect and your photos are out of this world!
Yup, I think mine will be going to work with my husband tomorrow!
Your photos are always beautiful. Great looking bars!
I have teenagers and nothing is too rich for them to eat. Good thing or I would have been force to eat more of these.
Mimi
You can tell how rich these bars were going to be just by the weight of the ingredients in the pan. You bars look so yummy!
Wow, Tracey. You can make anything look beautiful. Those bars look amazing.
I convinced myself that these were healthy treats because of all the oats. Hee hee.
Your bars look just wonderful! They are making me want to try them again – sans cinnamon. They look too delicious!