Next Post
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. Just like mom’s oatmeal cookies, but updated to be gluten-free and without refined sugar! Envision buttery oatmeal cookie bars swirled with melty chocolate chips. All made with simple, wholesome ingredients: butter, old fashioned oats, almond flour, maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and probably too many chocolate chips. But in my book, you can never have enough! They’re sweet, salty, very chocolatey, gluten-free, and truly delicious.
My mom used to bake cookies before dinner. She’s kind of famous for it. And that’s how I grew up. We always had homemade desserts. But then the question was, “Well, what’s for dinner?”.
Dad made dinner most of the time. Things are different now, but my mom is still famous for her desserts. Especially her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
She makes them all in one bowl with absolutely nothing fancy. Just combine all the ingredients, mix, bake, and eat.
She used to make them both as cookies and cookie bars. They were one of my favorite desserts.
With all the sweet baking from the holidays, I decided to take her recipes and swap a few ingredients to make her cookie bars a little healthier.
Mom used to use canola oil, but we’re going to use a mix of brown butter and melted coconut oil. Then, maple syrup to replace the sugar and almond flour instead of all purpose flour.
Don’t worry, the process is still just as easy. And I promise, these cookie bars are the yummiest, with rich, warm brown butter and melty chocolate chips!
Here are the details
Ingredients
- salted butter
- old fashioned oats – I like Bob’s Red Mill brand
- almond flour – again, I use Bob’s Red Mill
- baking soda
- salt
- melted coconut oil
- maple syrup
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- chocolate chips – and lots of them
Fancy Tools
Nope! You don’t need those. Just a skillet, a mixing bowl, and a baking pan.
Steps
Step 1: brown the butter
The key is to brown the salted butter on the stove in a skillet. Use a medium skillet to ensure the butter does not bubble over.
Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat to brown the butter. Allow the brown butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted. It will be golden and pretty!
Just don’t let it burn.
Step 2: mix the cookies
Now take the oats, almond flour, baking, soda, and salt and toss everything in a bowl. Add the melted coconut oil, the brown butter, maple, eggs, and vanilla.
The order does not matter! Just get everything but the chocolate chips into a bowl and mix.
Step 3: add the chocolate and bake
Now add the chocolate chips. Use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, or a mix!
Bake the cookies for 25-ish minutes, and you’re all done.
You can dive into these while they’re still warm like we always do, or let them cool.
If you dive in warm, they’ll be messy, but that’s what makes them so good. Just embrace the mess. These are so delectable. Perfectly set on the edges, yet the soft in the center with just the right amount of chew, sweetness, and rich flavors.
These make about 24 bars, so they’re great for parties too!
Looking for easy party desserts? Here are a few ideas:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Blondies
Homemade Vegan Peanut Butter Twix Bars
Caramel Butter Cake with Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Servings: 24 cookie bars
Calories Per Serving: 248 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 stick salted butter
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. 2. Add the butter to a pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let cool for 5 minutes. 3. In a bowl, beat together the oats, almond flour, baking soda, salt, brown butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the chocolate chips. 4. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden. You can let them chill or cut into them. If they're warm, they will be messier – but so DELISH!
This post was originally published on January 14, 2025
I loved the ingredients but the bars were just okay. They were crumbly—— I added pecans to half and that improved their taste. Maybe some nut butter would make a difference.
Hi Deb,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love them! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
Very yummy and I thought the sweetness was perfect
Hi Tammie,
Fantastic! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT
Mine did not come out as a batter. Just crumbly when mixing & after baking. 3 cups of oats and 2 cups of almond flour or is it either/or? Not sure I was supposed to use both. Needed more liquid if it has 5 cups of dry ingredients.
Hi there,
Yes, the recipe is correct with 3 cups of oats and 2 cups of almond flour. These do have a crumbly texture. Did you allow them to cool before cutting? xx
My family loved these! The only adjustment I made was leaving the salt out of the batter and adding flaky salt on top after they came out of the oven. Delicious!
Yay! So glad to hear these cookie bars turned out well for you! Thanks for making them! xT
I’m assuming I need to add the butter in at some point? You only talk about melting it and letting it cool but you never say when I’m supposed to add it into the recipe.
The butter is mentioned in step 2. I love to read the comments and came across yours so thought I would reply even though I have not made these yet.
Hi Wendy,
The butter will be added in step 3. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! xT
Bars tasted great but very crumbly. I think they need 2 sticks of butter. In reviewing your other bar recipes, you had use 2 sticks of browned butter.
Thanks so much, Jennifer! So glad to hear you enjoyed these, I appreciate you making them! You could definitely try 2 sticks next time. Have a wonderful weekend! xT
Sadly, these are a bit of a miss. Sorry!
Hi Billie,
So sorry to hear you did not enjoy this recipe. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know! xT
These are phenomenal
Thanks so much, Brittany! So glad you enjoyed these bars:) Have a great Friday! xT
I got excited because these are all pantry ingredients. I didn’t have almond flour so I subbed regular flour. Too much, I should have used less for that sub. But my main issue is the sweetness, they’re almost salty? Not enough of a hint of sweetness. Needs something more. Very disappointing!
Hi Natalie,
So very sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, I would recommend reducing the oats if you are going to use regular flour. You could always add more maple for sweetness. Again, so sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe! xx
These just fell apart.
Hi Elisha,
Thanks for trying this recipe, so sorry to hear they fell apart for you. Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Did you cut into them while they were warm? Please let me know how I can help! xx
Tieghan, I beg of you. Please stop making claims about “health”. You consistently spread false information, and with a platform as large as yours, a lot of people are impacted by what you share. Take responsibility for what you say and stop misleading your trusting followers.
Coconut oil and butter are absolutely NOT healthier alternatives to canola oil. Just ask the American Heart Association, or literally any other reputable source for health and medical info.
Also, please know that it is perfectly okay to enjoy a sweet treat from time to time without attempting to make it “healthy”. It IS HEALTHY to enjoy a balanced diet which can absolutely include treats!
Canola oil is extremely processed, causes inflammation, and has been linked to causing cancer. Butter and coconut oil are absolutely healthier options.
Hello Paul,
My medical team absolutely advises against canola oil for its inflammatory properties.
Awesome, Kirsten! Some foods affect some people differently than others, but that doesn’t mean seed oils are dangerous or unsafe. There are no peer reviewed or backed studies that prove they are, or that they are inflammatory for most people. Let’s listen to scientists that understand the data from studies.
Hey Paul! Thanks for the comment. Understand this is how you feel!
We all have are own thought, opinion, and beliefs. I’ve taken the time to learn about these topics and it just my opinion. I of course am
No doctor and never have claimed to be. You have to do what’s best for you!
Have the most wonderful Sunday! Xx
Paul, I think you should look up and watch just how canola oil is made. It is horrendous for your body. No body should be consuming it.
Can you use all purpose or wheat flour instead of almond?
Hi Kathryn,
Yes, if you do that, I would use 2 1/2 cups oats and 2 cups flour. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
There are too many comments from bakers having had similar, um, less than stellar results with this recipe for there not to be something that needs adjusting. Here are my thought in case anyone is interested:
1. Since there’s no gluten formation with almond flour, maybe add at least some all-purpose flour for better structure?
2. Reduce the amount of oats to reduce the crumbly texture so many complain about – the oats to almond flour ratio seems almost the opposite of what one might expect it should be.
3. I can’t imagine the maple syrup alone would be a sufficient binder. Possibly including at least some brown sugar for better binding (plus some flavor) would be good.
4. Could that stick of butter plus another 1/2 cup of coconut oil be a little too much fat that might lead to greasiness and a crumbly texture> Maybe decreasing the total amount of fat would help.
5. We’re sort of encouraged to eat these bars warm, but without proper cooling, bar cookies don’t seem to fare all that well. I’d be thinking about waiting till they cool completely before cutting them up.
Caveat: I have NOT tried these. I’m kind of hoping someone posts a solution before I do. And I so much want to like these, because so many of Tieghan’s recipes have been just spectacular successes.
A solution might be to use a recipe that’s actually good? Just a thought.
I don’t think these are actually healthy enough for how “meh” they were. Could have been me but these were a bit dry and lacked flavor.
Hi Laura,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love them! xx
Hi Tieghan! Would I be able to substitute butter for the coconut oil? Thanks!
Hi Brittany,
You bet, that will work nicely for you. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx