Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

My schedule was a little different this week, which threw off my baking schedule. I got to the point that I was headed home and knew I would be baking that evening, but I hadn’t planned on what to bake. I didn’t really want to have to go to the store, so that limited my options. I wanted to make this week’s cookies dairy free, so my coworker could enjoy them too.

This recipe came up in my Pinterest feed, and it looked perfect. I barely had 1 cup of oats, but I had just enough. I substituted vegetable shortening for the butter that the original recipe specified. I try to keep dairy free chocolate chips on hand, so that’s what I used. The recipe also called for peanut butter chips, which I had, but they are not dairy free.

These are the world’s easiest cookies. The only challenge, if you could call I that, is that it’s not a lot of dough to spread in the pan. It was also sticky, so the best option to spread the dough evenly is to use slightly damp hands. They bake very quickly. The firm up as they cool, so don’t bake them until they look “done,” as then they will be over baked. These are a lovely homey cookie, with oats and peanut butter. Simple, but still great!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup oats

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and oats; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, combine the shortening, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk and mix on medium to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir on low until almost incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and stir on low until he chips are distributed throughout the dough.

Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. The bars may look under baked, but will be very lightly browned on the edges. Cool before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Together as a Family