47 thoughts on “P&Q: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars”
More a tip than a P or Q, but if you make the whole recipe, use a LARGE bowl to mix up the cookie base. My kitchen is now a mess – I was flinging brown sugar and butter and oatmeal EVERYWHERE last night! And don’t be concerned when melting the chocolate into the condensed milk if it thickens up quite a bit on you, mine was definitely in the fudge / spreadable stage when I took it off my double boiler. I made a half recipe in an 8×8″ pan, and it still took the full 25-30 minutes to bake.
I just can’t wait. Might be making them today.
I left out the raisins and used roasted peanuts. So good! Very rich though, cut these small!
I was just about to ask if anyone left out the raisins. Now, I know! My kids are not big fans of them. I will probably leave them out.
I made these yesterday and they would be great without raisins. Just add peanuts or other nuts to the chocolate, or even dried cranberries. I thought the raisins made them way too sweet. The crust/topping mixture is to die for.
You go ladies… make me drool
Probably making these today! So very excited. My husband is a fan of all of the ingredients in these!
leaving out the raisins and thinking about subbing butterscotch or peanut butter chips.
right after I left out the raisins, I thought “butterscotch chips would be a great sub”. I didn’t have any on hand but let me know if it works out!
Oh, Dorie says this makes 32 ( I think) bars. These are so rich and dense, I cut them MUCH smaller.
DD is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. If I leave the peanuts out of the base so she can have them, do I need to add anything to make up for it? Some recipes I need to sub with something, and others I can just leave them out. I’m going to do butterscotch chips in place of the raisins in the topping.
I think you could leave the peanuts out – you won’t have the crunch, but it will still taste good. The raisins go into the warm chocolate/condensed milk mixture, so butterscotch chips might melt (or partway melt).
I think I am going to leave the nuts out too, bc the boys dont like nuts. Maybe Ill add some crunchy granola instead.
Omigod these are so good! Leslie is right, you can make a lot more than 32 bars. They are so decadent and thick. I probably have 60!
this sounds almost too sweet. my boyfriend is going to LOVE it.
I like the raisins in this. They provide a bit of tartness, which contrasts nicely with the sweet filling. I could see how dried cranberries would be even better.
These sound yummy! I am a little worried about the raisins, not so much for me, but for my husband & son.
I’d hate to have to eat all the bars myself!!!
I’ve already made these and passed them off to family and co-workers. My informal survey shows that 9 out of 10 people will not recognize the raisins.
Made these last night and loved them! I used dried cranberries in place of raisins. Worked out wonderfully!
It’s funny because my mom makes a recipe just like this (sans raisins and peanuts) and she calls them “Wonderful Bars.”
Can’t wait to post!
One bite and you’ll wish you had left out the raisins. I got a bunch of “… what’s in here… fruit?” comments. I thought the raisins overpowered the chocolate a bit – and wished I had sub’d peanut chips, etc. It also makes a large, heavy 13×9 pan full… cut them small!
I never put raisins with chocolate..nasty!
Now i’m conflicted about the raisins? I love raisinettes- won’t it taste kind of like that?
Emily
By all means put raisins in if you like them. All of us have different tastes! I like raisins in my oatmeal cookies, but thats about it!
I wasn’t feeling in a peanut mood so I subbed in shredded sweetened coconut – tasty, but you can’t get around the fact that these bars are VERY sweet.
In light of all the comments reinforcing what I thought these might be like, I think I am going to try to make a 1/3 or 1/4 recipe in a loaf pan and leave out the raisins. I don’t think I’ll sub anything for them either, but we’ll see. Thanks in advance for all the good info!
I’m not planning to add raisins-I can’t stand ‘em-I will probably go with butterscotch chips. MMMHMMMM!
Making these tomorrow.
I here you on the raisins..I only like them in my oatmeal cookies!
This may be a silly question, but does it matter if I use unsalted peanuts? I’m pretty sure I read earlier that I need salted but unfortunately I bought them a few weeks ago and they are unsalted.
totally don’t worry about it. if you are into the salty/sweet combo, then just add an extra pinch of salt into your mix.
I made these the other day, BOY it makes tons! I wonder why she went for a 9×13 pan? I would’ve made them a 8×8 size. I froze half of it for another day.
Cutting these is much easy once cold, you can slice them thin too. I liked them room temp but liked them even more cold. They didn’t seem as rich when cold. But eating them at room temp is like eating a loaded cookie =)
I just made them and stuck to the recipe and loved it, although they are very rich.
um yeah, convert ova heee–re! Used Craisins and love them–they make the “cookie” not quite as cloyingly sweet. To me these are like deconstructed oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
I just finished these! Fabulous! I didn’t catch the part about refrigerating before cutting. They were a bit soft inside, but I got them cut okay. I made them just as the recipe call for them to be made. They are rich, but gooooood!
These are cooling on the butcher block in the kitchen as we speak. I made a half recipe in an 8×8 pan, and took the advice here to leave out the raisins (didn’t sound so good to me) and stir in some butterscotch chips. We’ll see how they are when they’re cool, but they smell delish!
Oh, MAN. These are almost TOO good.
I did not refrigerate and they were perfect.These bars are outstanding..I left out the peanuts and the raisins..I used pecans and walnuts…These bars are So good..one of my favorite TWD recipes!
YUM!! No raisins, no peanuts, no cinnamon. Just dark bittersweet chocolate, so they’re not even too sweet. I made half a recipe in an 8″ pan.
These keep getting better every day! and um…I already made the cocoa-nana bread.
Can’t wait to see February’s recipes!
I have a problem that I can’t use dairy in the recipe. Is there anything to substitute for the condensed milk?
I made it without the condensed milk and it was good but more like a cookie but, I have no idea, what it is supposed to look like or taste.
If anyone has a suggestion as to how to substitute some other liquid, I would make them again and see what happens.
While I am asking questions, how so I get my login changed to the account, I am using, Sweet and Savory? WordPress is keeping me prisoner and doesn’t seem to have a way to change to my blogger address.
I just made these bars and they are delicious. I left out the peanuts because I don’t like them and just added extra raisins into the chocolate – yummy – sort of like a chocolatey oatmeal raisin cookie!
More a tip than a P or Q, but if you make the whole recipe, use a LARGE bowl to mix up the cookie base. My kitchen is now a mess – I was flinging brown sugar and butter and oatmeal EVERYWHERE last night! And don’t be concerned when melting the chocolate into the condensed milk if it thickens up quite a bit on you, mine was definitely in the fudge / spreadable stage when I took it off my double boiler. I made a half recipe in an 8×8″ pan, and it still took the full 25-30 minutes to bake.
I just can’t wait. Might be making them today.
I left out the raisins and used roasted peanuts. So good! Very rich though, cut these small!
I was just about to ask if anyone left out the raisins. Now, I know! My kids are not big fans of them. I will probably leave them out.
I made these yesterday and they would be great without raisins. Just add peanuts or other nuts to the chocolate, or even dried cranberries. I thought the raisins made them way too sweet. The crust/topping mixture is to die for.
You go ladies… make me drool
Probably making these today! So very excited. My husband is a fan of all of the ingredients in these!
leaving out the raisins and thinking about subbing butterscotch or peanut butter chips.
right after I left out the raisins, I thought “butterscotch chips would be a great sub”. I didn’t have any on hand but let me know if it works out!
Oh, Dorie says this makes 32 ( I think) bars. These are so rich and dense, I cut them MUCH smaller.
DD is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. If I leave the peanuts out of the base so she can have them, do I need to add anything to make up for it? Some recipes I need to sub with something, and others I can just leave them out. I’m going to do butterscotch chips in place of the raisins in the topping.
I think you could leave the peanuts out – you won’t have the crunch, but it will still taste good. The raisins go into the warm chocolate/condensed milk mixture, so butterscotch chips might melt (or partway melt).
I think I am going to leave the nuts out too, bc the boys dont like nuts. Maybe Ill add some crunchy granola instead.
Omigod these are so good! Leslie is right, you can make a lot more than 32 bars. They are so decadent and thick. I probably have 60!
this sounds almost too sweet. my boyfriend is going to LOVE it.
I like the raisins in this. They provide a bit of tartness, which contrasts nicely with the sweet filling. I could see how dried cranberries would be even better.
These sound yummy! I am a little worried about the raisins, not so much for me, but for my husband & son.
I’d hate to have to eat all the bars myself!!!
I’ve already made these and passed them off to family and co-workers. My informal survey shows that 9 out of 10 people will not recognize the raisins.
Made these last night and loved them! I used dried cranberries in place of raisins. Worked out wonderfully!
It’s funny because my mom makes a recipe just like this (sans raisins and peanuts) and she calls them “Wonderful Bars.”
Can’t wait to post!
One bite and you’ll wish you had left out the raisins. I got a bunch of “… what’s in here… fruit?” comments. I thought the raisins overpowered the chocolate a bit – and wished I had sub’d peanut chips, etc. It also makes a large, heavy 13×9 pan full… cut them small!
I never put raisins with chocolate..nasty!
Now i’m conflicted about the raisins? I love raisinettes- won’t it taste kind of like that?
Emily
By all means put raisins in if you like them. All of us have different tastes! I like raisins in my oatmeal cookies, but thats about it!
I wasn’t feeling in a peanut mood so I subbed in shredded sweetened coconut – tasty, but you can’t get around the fact that these bars are VERY sweet.
In light of all the comments reinforcing what I thought these might be like, I think I am going to try to make a 1/3 or 1/4 recipe in a loaf pan and leave out the raisins. I don’t think I’ll sub anything for them either, but we’ll see. Thanks in advance for all the good info!
I’m not planning to add raisins-I can’t stand ‘em-I will probably go with butterscotch chips. MMMHMMMM!
Making these tomorrow.
I here you on the raisins..I only like them in my oatmeal cookies!
This may be a silly question, but does it matter if I use unsalted peanuts? I’m pretty sure I read earlier that I need salted but unfortunately I bought them a few weeks ago and they are unsalted.
totally don’t worry about it. if you are into the salty/sweet combo, then just add an extra pinch of salt into your mix.
I made these the other day, BOY it makes tons! I wonder why she went for a 9×13 pan? I would’ve made them a 8×8 size. I froze half of it for another day.
Cutting these is much easy once cold, you can slice them thin too. I liked them room temp but liked them even more cold. They didn’t seem as rich when cold. But eating them at room temp is like eating a loaded cookie =)
I just made them and stuck to the recipe and loved it, although they are very rich.
um yeah, convert ova heee–re! Used Craisins and love them–they make the “cookie” not quite as cloyingly sweet. To me these are like deconstructed oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
I just finished these! Fabulous! I didn’t catch the part about refrigerating before cutting. They were a bit soft inside, but I got them cut okay. I made them just as the recipe call for them to be made. They are rich, but gooooood!
These are cooling on the butcher block in the kitchen as we speak. I made a half recipe in an 8×8 pan, and took the advice here to leave out the raisins (didn’t sound so good to me) and stir in some butterscotch chips. We’ll see how they are when they’re cool, but they smell delish!
Oh, MAN. These are almost TOO good.
I did not refrigerate and they were perfect.These bars are outstanding..I left out the peanuts and the raisins..I used pecans and walnuts…These bars are So good..one of my favorite TWD recipes!
YUM!! No raisins, no peanuts, no cinnamon. Just dark bittersweet chocolate, so they’re not even too sweet. I made half a recipe in an 8″ pan.
These keep getting better every day! and um…I already made the cocoa-nana bread.
Can’t wait to see February’s recipes!
I have a problem that I can’t use dairy in the recipe. Is there anything to substitute for the condensed milk?
I made it without the condensed milk and it was good but more like a cookie but, I have no idea, what it is supposed to look like or taste.
If anyone has a suggestion as to how to substitute some other liquid, I would make them again and see what happens.
While I am asking questions, how so I get my login changed to the account, I am using, Sweet and Savory? WordPress is keeping me prisoner and doesn’t seem to have a way to change to my blogger address.
There must be a way. Would appreciate the help.
sweetsav1@yahoo.com
DE-LISH!!! I also left out the raisins and they were perfect! I can’t wait to take these to work – people are going to go crazy over them!
These bars are delish! What a fun recipe to begin my TWD adventure.
Pingback: Tuesdays With Dorie – Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars « My Baking Heart
Pingback: Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars
Pingback: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars « LA's In The Kitchen
http://marymaryculinary.blogspot.com/2010/01/twd-chocolate-oatmeal-almost-candy-bars.html
I just made these bars and they are delicious. I left out the peanuts because I don’t like them and just added extra raisins into the chocolate – yummy – sort of like a chocolatey oatmeal raisin cookie!