I (Kate) find it difficult to convey how important this recipe is to our family well-being. When I want dessert, I almost always think of this first, then I have to decide: oatmeal chocolate chip bars or something else? You can make the dough when convenient, put it in the pan, and then wait to bake it until you sit down to dinner, so you get to eat it within minutes after it comes out of the oven, at the height of its oat-y, gooey, magnificence. But also, the recipe is so easy that you can make it AFTER dinner, when you realize that even though you are tired, you have enough energy to make this and only this. You know its deliciousness will get you through to the next morning. We make these bars for guests, or when we are guests, because it is enticing to bring something that can be served hot even after it has traveled.
I defy you to find a more delicious incarnation of this dessert. But before you test me on this, you have to follow the recipe. One fellow disregarded the long whipping of butter and sugar. He did not add the eggs one at a time. The bars he made were substandard, and it was his fault. We ate them anyway, but the experience was the cubic zirconia version of the diamond we loved. Don’t feel you have to wait until the weekend to whip this up. In fact, just go do it right now. With the oats and the ice cream, it makes a well-rounded meal.
CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL BARS
Makes one 9 x 13 pan
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar , packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
Whisk together flour, soda, and salt in a bowl. Add oats and mix again.
Cream butter and sugars for three or four minutes in a stand mixer, until light and fluffy. Add eggs to creamed mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Mix in vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and mix again, as little as you can. Add the chocolate chips, stirring just until they’re incorporated. Spread dough into a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan; we like the browning that a Pyrex pan brings, although beware that those retain heat and the bars will continue to bake for a few minutes after coming out of the oven. Bake at 350 for 27 minutes. We like to serve these still warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream, then slice what’s left into bars the following day. [They appear quite gooey if you take them out right at 27 minutes, which we think is delicious. But it’s possible your oven will requite you to add a minute or two to the baking time. Keep in mind that once they’re overcooked, they’ll be dry, and taste only half as good.]
