Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

This past summer, my husband and I traveled to Michigan for a family reunion. I hadn’t been to Michigan before (nor had I met that side of my husband’s family) so I didn’t quite know what to expect. The reunion was in a small town, so we were challenged to find a nice place to stay. My husband found a great bed and breakfast that was close by and was on a working cattle ranch. How interesting! We ended up having a great time there and enjoyed our visit very much.

One of the surprises of where we stayed was that it was in the middle of an Amish community. I knew that there were Amish who lived outside of Pennsylvania, but I hadn’t really thought about it too much. The B&B hosts said that there were some Amish stores that were interesting to visit, so we did that one morning. It’s a little strange pulling into a parking lot where there are as many horse-drawn buggies in the lot as cars! We looked at two stores: a hardware store and a grocery store. My husband bought the nicest leather belt at the hardware store and I bought mini butterscotch chips at the grocery store.

Well, I bought the chips in the summer and they were in the car most of the day, so the chips kind of all melted together. No worries; I figured I would be able to find recipes where you melt the butterscotch chips. This recipe fits the bill: a simple oat/butterscotch base topped with butterscotch glaze. The original recipe said to bake the bake 16-18 minutes but I baked mine closer to 30 minutes so make sure it was done. The glaze is tasty but there’s not enough of it so I would double the glaze next time. These bars don’t look fancy, but they taste SO good. If you like butterscotch, these are for you.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

1 1/4 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
16 tablespoons butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with aluminum foil, letting the foil hang over the sides of the pan, and spray the foil with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Place the 3/4 cup butterscotch chips in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and let the butter cook until golden brown in color, about 10 minutes, taking care not to burn. Pour the hot butter over the butterscotch chips and whisk together until melted and smooth. Whisk in the brown sugar until combined. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Switch to a spatula and stir in the flour mixture, just until incorporated.

Spread in the prepared pan and smooth the top, spreading the batter evenly to the edges. Bake the bars until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 20-30 minutes.

As soon as the pars come out of the oven, make the glaze. Place the 1/4 cup butterscotch chips, brown sugar, water and salt in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the mixture until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes on 50% power. Whisk to combine well.

Drizzle the butterscotch glaze over the bars. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe