Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars are chewy, buttery, and packed with chocolate chips, making them the ultimate quick dessert or snack. Thick and soft like classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies but much easier to make, they’re perfect for last-minute treats. Everyone will love them, and they disappear fast—especially when friends show up unexpectedly!

Love More Chocolate Chip Desserts? Try My Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies or this Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These bars are everything you love about oatmeal cookies without the extra work—no scooping, no rotating pans, no worrying about cookies spreading into odd shapes. They bake up thick, chewy, and full of chocolatey goodness in one simple pan. Easy, reliable, and delicious, they’re the kind of treat you’ll come back to again and again.

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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ cup + 2 tablespoons), softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix-Ins:

• 3 cups quick-cook oats (or old-fashioned oats)
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

I buy the big Quaker oats container because we eat a lot of oatmeal anyway. Sometimes I’m out and use the old-fashioned ones instead. They work fine but stay more chunky.

The butter thing is annoying to measure. It’s one stick plus two more tablespoons. I usually just eyeball the extra part because who wants to dirty another measuring spoon.

Why These Ingredients Work

Brown sugar makes them chewy instead of crunchy. I found this out when I ran out of brown sugar once and used all white sugar. They turned out more like crispy cookies which wasn’t bad but wasn’t what I wanted.

That butter amount seems random but it’s not. Less and they’re dry. More and they’re greasy and won’t hold together when you cut them. Lisa probably figured this out through trial and error like I did with most of my other recipes.

Cinnamon is important even though it’s just one teaspoon. Without it they taste boring. My mom always put cinnamon in her oatmeal cookies and these remind me of those.

Room temperature eggs work better but I forget half the time and just use cold ones. You can tell the difference – cold eggs make the batter look weird and lumpy for a while.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Big mixing bowl. I tried using a regular sized bowl once and made a huge mess. Flour everywhere.

Electric mixer. I have a stand mixer now but used a hand mixer for years. Either works but don’t try to do this by hand unless you want your arm to fall off.

9×13 pan is the only size that works right. I tried my 8×8 square pan thinking I’d get thicker bars but they didn’t cook evenly. Middle was raw when edges were done.

Cooking spray. Some people use butter to grease the pan but spray is easier and works just as well.

How To Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Step 1: Prep Your Oven and Pan

Heat oven to 350°F and spray your 9×13 pan. I always forget to turn the oven on first and then have to wait around with my dough ready to go.

Step 2: Mix All the Dry Ingredients

Dump flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk it up. Seems pointless but I skipped this once and got weird baking soda clumps in some bars.

Step 3: Cream the Butter and Both Sugars

Beat the soft butter with both sugars for maybe 4 minutes until it looks fluffy and lighter colored. Set a timer because I always think it’s done before it actually is. This step matters more than you think.

Step 4: Add Eggs One at a Time, Then Vanilla

Beat in one egg until mixed, then the other egg, then vanilla. Should smell good and look smooth.

Step 5: Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients

Add the flour stuff to the butter stuff and mix on low just until combined. Don’t overmix or you get tough bars instead of tender ones. Learned this the hard way.

Step 6: Fold in Oats and Chocolate Chips

Switch to a spoon and stir in oats first, then chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Try to get the chocolate chips spread around evenly.

Step 7: Press the Dough Into Your Prepared Pan

Dump everything into the greased pan and press it down with your hands. It’s messy but works better than trying to use a spoon or spatula. Press it down good but don’t smash it flat.

Step 8: Bake Until Golden Brown

Usually takes 25 minutes but start checking at 20. Edges should be golden and middle should look done but not hard. They keep cooking after you take them out.

Step 9: Cool Completely Before Cutting

Hardest part. They smell incredible but if you cut them while hot they fall apart. I’ve ruined so many batches being impatient. Just wait.

You Must Know

Butter has to be soft or this doesn’t work right. If I forget to take it out early I cut it into pieces and leave it on the counter for 20 minutes.

Personal Secret: I press extra chocolate chips on top before baking. Makes them look fancy and my kids fight over the pieces with the most chips showing.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Don’t overbake. They should still look slightly soft in middle when you take them out. I’ve made this mistake too many times and dry bars are depressing.

Use a measuring cup to press the dough if your hands get too sticky. The flat bottom works good for smoothing it out.

Roll chocolate chips in flour before adding them so they don’t all sink to the bottom. I forget to do this half the time but when I remember it works.

When in doubt take them out. Better slightly underdone than overdone because they firm up as they cool.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

I tried dried cranberries once instead of chocolate chips. They were okay but everyone kept asking when I was making the regular ones again.

White chocolate chips and coconut is good if you like coconut. About half cup coconut flakes mixed in.

Walnuts work too though Emma picks them all out. I toast them first in a dry pan because it makes them taste better.

Dark chocolate chips if you don’t want them as sweet. My sister likes them this way but the kids think they’re gross.

Make-Ahead Options

Dough keeps in the fridge for a couple days and actually tastes better after sitting overnight. Sometimes I make it after dinner and bake it the next day.

You can freeze the whole pan of raw dough too. Just bake it frozen but add extra time. Takes about 35 minutes instead of 25.

Finished bars freeze great cut up and wrapped individually. Good for lunch boxes or when you want just one bar instead of being tempted by the whole pan.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

Pull them when they look just barely done. They keep cooking in the hot pan so what looks underdone will be perfect after cooling.

High altitude people need to change stuff but I don’t know what because I don’t live in the mountains. My cousin in Colorado had to mess with it when I gave her the recipe.

Parchment paper makes them easier to get out but I usually just grease the pan because I’m lazy. Both ways work.

Old-fashioned oats work fine if that’s what you have. They just stay chunkier instead of blending in smooth like quick oats do.

Serving Suggestions

These go in lunch boxes because they don’t crumble like cookies. Jake takes them to school and they survive being squished in his backpack.

Sometimes I warm them up and put ice cream on top for dessert but that’s pretty extra for a Tuesday night.

Perfect for potlucks because everyone likes them and they travel well. I never come home with leftovers when I bring these places.

The teenagers eat them for breakfast which is probably terrible nutrition but they have oats so I pretend it’s healthy.

Good for pretty much any situation where you need to feed people something sweet. School stuff, work parties, when neighbors drop by. Universal crowd pleaser.

How to Store Your Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Big plastic container with tight lid at room temperature. They stay good about two weeks but never last that long here.

Don’t refrigerate unless your house is really hot. Makes them hard and they lose the chewy texture.

Freeze them wrapped individually if you want them to last longer. Good for months and taste fine straight from freezer.

Microwave for 10 seconds if they get stale to soften them back up.

Allergy Information

Contains: Wheat, eggs, dairy Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free flour cup for cup. King Arthur makes good stuff. Dairy-Free: Vegan butter works and they make dairy-free chocolate chips now. Egg-Free: Never tried egg substitutes so can’t tell you how they turn out.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can You Use Rolled Oats Instead of Quick Cooking Oats?

Same thing basically. Old-fashioned oats are rolled oats just bigger pieces. They work fine you just get more texture.

Is oatmeal good with chocolate chips?

Best combo ever. The oats make it feel less guilty than straight chocolate and the chocolate makes oatmeal actually taste good.

Can I use old-fashioned oats?

Yeah they work fine just chewier texture.

Why are mine crumbly?

Probably overbaked or didn’t cream butter and sugar long enough.

Can I add nuts?

Sure up to a cup chopped nuts toast them first.

Too sweet what do I do?

Dark chocolate chips next time or sprinkle salt on top before baking.

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! Let me know if your family ate them as fast as mine always does.