Lisa’s Oatmeal Bars

As mentioned, I write a Resident Recipe column for our monthly neighborhood magazine. This month’s article features Lisa, a personal trainer who made these wonderful oatmeal bars – a healthy version of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. An excerpt from the article is below:

As a personal trainer and class instructor at the Frisco Athletic Center, Lisa understands the importance of eating healthy.

While living in Fort Lauderdale and working for a cooking show at the time, Lisa was determined to find a healthier alternative to chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that her kids could enjoy. After experimenting on her own, she perfected this recipe for oatmeal bars. Unlike a traditional cookie, these bars contain neither butter not eggs. Instead, they are loaded with whole grain oats and skim milk. Lisa’s cookie alternative is a tasty and good-for-you recipe that you don’t have to feel guilty about eating.

Fortunately for my husband and me, we were able to try some of Lisa’s oatmeal bars and absolutely LOVED them! Lisa used to sell her bars when she lived in Florida and I can see why people would buy them … they are delicious! Enjoy.

Lisa’s Oatmeal Bars

Serves: 20-24 bars

Ingredients

4 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup skim milk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix dry ingredients together. Add liquid to dry ingredients with wooden spoon.
Spread mixture into a 9×13-inch greased baking pan. Bake for about 24 minutes.

Notes

*Substitutions for chocolate chips: Golden raisins Dried cranberries and white chocolate chips Butterscotch chips

Monster Cookie Bars

These are the BEST monster cookie bars in the entire world! Literally 1-inch in thickness, these bars are chewy, gooey, moist and 10x better than regular ‘ole monster cookies.

The combination of peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&M’s, and oats creates the most decadent cookie bar you’ll ever put in your mouth!

For the past 4 years, my sister Brittany, was like the “team mom” for the Oklahoma State cross country team. She loves to bake and would make sweets for her boyfriend Colby and his teammates before each race.

If you didn’t know, Brit and Colby got married last weekend. As you could guess, many of Colby’s cross country teammates were his groomsmen. To keep the baking tradition alive, Brittany decided to make these monster cookies bars for Colby and the groomsmen as a “pre-race”, aka pre-wedding treat!

Right before the wedding, I mentioned to Brit that she should try to make monster cookie bars. She did some searching on her own and found this recipe through Marina’s blog over at Domesticated Duchess. What sold her on these bars was how thick they were!

Lucky for me, Brittany was thoughtful (perhaps because I pleaded…Lol) and saved 3-4 monster cookie bars for me to snack on. Thank goodness, because as I said earlier, they were AWESOME!

Enjoy!

Spread dough into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.

Let cool. Then cut into bars.

Monster Cookie Bars
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 eggs
2 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 package (12 oz.) chocolate chips
1 package (12 oz.) milk chocolate M&M’s

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs and baking soda. Then ddd the peanut butter and beat until smooth.
3. Mix by hand the oatmeal, one cup at a time. Slowly add in the M&M’s and chocolate chips.
4. Spread mixture into a well greased 9 x 13-inch pan and bake for 15-20 minutes. Do not over bake! (They will taste better just a little on the soft side.) Store in an airtight container.

Recipe from: Domesticated Duchess
Yield: about 20 bars

Oatmeal Craisin Bars

I thought these Oatmeal Craisin Bars were very very good. Just a tad dry on the inside, but for a “healthy” bar, I thought they were delicious. The flavors were excellent….cinnamon, combined with oatmeal, brown sugar, and craisins made for a delectable, fall treat. The best part…no butter, thus no guilt! I took these to work with me as my mid-morning snack all last week.

The thought of substituting chocolate chips for craisins crossed my mind since my husband, Matt hates dried fruit, but I wasn’t sure about mixing the chocolate and cinnamon together…weird flavors in my opinion.

Enjoy these healthy Oatmeal Craisin Bars and let me know what you think!

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until smooth.

Pour into a greased 8 x 8-inch square pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven or until bars are cooked all the way through.

Let cool completely, then cut into bars.

Oatmeal Craisin Bars
Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup craisins

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray 8″x 8″ inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. (I placed an aluminum foil overhang in the baking pan and sprayed the foil with non-stick cooking spray…keeps the pan clean, and makes the bars easier to cut.)
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients until smooth.
4. Spread batter in prepared baking pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes until bars are cooked all the way through.
5. Let bars cool completely in pan before cutting.

Yield: 9 bars

Where Women Cook | Autumn 2011 issue