halloween harvest oatmeal cookie bars
It’s nearly the week of spookies! Then we’ll be approaching something spookier: the holidays. Yikes.
Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the holidays – I’m not a Grinch who shits on everyone’s -ber month fun, and honestly if I were I’d be a terrible food blogger. Which I kinda am anyway, but I digress… The season does, however, come with a share of difficulty. It approaches and departs with the same gusto, leaving very little time to breathe in between and actually sit present with everything that’s going on.
Many of you folks are Halloween people, however. And while I’m not really, I do savor an autumn-appropriate treat or cocktail here and there, and I love scrolling through and seeing everyone’s creative costumes. I’m a total proponent of people having fun, even if I do not partake myself. I tend to at least watch The Nightmare Before Christmas and Charlie Brown, and you bet I’ll swipe a candy or two if someone brings in a bucket to work.
I’m keeping it breezy this Halloween with oatmeal cookie bars. Ya’ll asked for them on my Instagram poll, so I’m here to deliver what the people want. A solid dessert to keep in your repertoire: they’ll disappoint no one, freeze beautifully for your emergency sweet stash, and boast aesthetic beauty enough to snazz up your entertainment spread.
And, they’re easy as hell. Watch and learn!
The Cookie Harvest
What if cookies grew on bushes and cookie farmers spent a portion of October gathering the pickings and distributing them like crops? What a multibillion dollar industry if someone could figure out how to cultivate fully-baked cookies!
That’s a weird thing to say, but whatever. I said it.
To start, your wet ingredients. Beat butter, brown sugar, and regular sugar until fluffy, then whip in two eggs (one at a time) and some vanilla.
Next, dry ingredients. Add in flour, baking soda, a wee bit of cinnamon, and salt. Mix up until just combined, then fold in dark chocolate chips and Reese’s Pieces, lots of each. If you don’t want to use te latter, any sort of M&M variety is perfectly suitable too. Try to find autumn-hued ones or the Halloween Ghoul Mix.
Press the dough into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan lined with parchment. The easiest way I find to distribute the dough without the parchment slipping and sliding too much is to grease a spatula lightly with oil, then press on the dough to move it around. You may have to re-grease a few times before you’re done. Or, you can glove up, spray your fingers, and press the dough. Whatever you do, try to get it as evenly spread as possible.
Dot with a few extra chippies and Pieces, if you’d like. Slide that puppy in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cookie bars are a bit harder to judge doneness with than normal cookies or, say, cake, but I find that when the edges are golden and the center no longer looks shiny, you’re good to go.
Cool the bars in the pan for about 25-30 minutes. I like to set the pan on a wire rack to even out the cooling process. Then, slice em up and serve!
You can refrigerate the baked cookies (cooked bakies?) for up to 5 days, and freeze them for infinity (3 months). Too, as with any cookie, you can make the dough ahead of time, even forming it in the pan, and bake it off within 3 days.
Have a safe and fun Halloween, friends! If you go trick-or-treating, I hope all the houses have good offerings and not fucken Skittles or some shit.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
For your emergency cookie stash:
Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lil Monster Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies
halloween harvest oatmeal cookie bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup Reese's Pieces (or Halloween M&Ms)
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until just combined. Use a spatula to fold in the candies and the chocolate chips.
- Dump the dough into the prepared baking sheet and spread from edge to edge with a lightly greased spatula. Distribute as evenly possible. Press a few more chocolate chips and/or candies into the top of the bars, as desired.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are golden and the center is no longer shiny. Cool the bars, in the pan, on top of a wire rack for at least 25 minutes before slicing and serving.
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