Next Post
The Hermione Granger Cocktail.
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Making Friday even sweeter with these Healthier Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars. These one-bowl homemade oatmeal cookie bars with dark chocolate chunks and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt are the perfect way to end the week. They’re super easy and made a touch healthier with a mix of whole grain oats, whole wheat flour, coconut or olive oil, and a reduced amount of sugar. But most importantly, everyone LOVES these oatmeal bars! Plus, they’re pretty difficult to mess up…they always turn out GREAT.
Going back to my childhood roots with these oatmeal cookie bars. For any of you that know anything about my mom, you know that when my brothers and I were growing up, she’d have dessert on the table before dinner was even a thought. Her staples were chocolate chip cookies, special K-bars, chocolate cake, and her famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that she’s been making ever since her friend Lora gave her the recipe (before I was even born).
Oh her cookies. My memories of them are so fond and perfect. We’d always eat them a little warm and gooey right after baking and always with a cold glass of milk. Very classic, right? To this day, these are some of my favorite memories. Baking in the kitchen with mom and zero brothers around.
Fun fact? My purpose in life as a kid was to figure out a way to get mom all to myself without any of my five brothers. It was tricky, but when I made it happen I loved every minute of our one-on-one time.
Anyway, when my mom wasn’t feeling like baking her round chocolate cookies, she’d make oatmeal cookie bars. Her recipe is EASY and it’s the BEST. You simply cannot beat a one large bowl, ten-minute prep, and pantry staple cookie bar.
Mom would make her oatmeal cookie bars once a week. And there were definitely many weeks she’d make them twice. When a recipe is as easy and as delicious as her bars, it becomes a staple in the kitchen. But here’s the truth. Over the years I’ve adapted her recipe, making small tweaks here and there to adjust them to be a little bit healthier and taste maybe even better?
Maybe…
It’s hard to beat an oatmeal cookie bar baked by my mom, but these healthier dark chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie bars come very, very close.
Here are the very simple details.
This recipe requires just one bowl and a spoon…no mixer. It’s completely no-fuss, and takes ten minutes to toss together. You can’t mess these bars up. They are practically foolproof.
In your mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Now, add all of the wet ingredients. Mix away until you have a crumbly dough. Stir in plenty fo dark chocolate chunks, then press the dough into a baking dish. Bake twenty minutes and sprinkle with flaky sea salt once you remove them from the oven.
Smell the wonderfulness? Do you see the melty chocolate?
I don’t love the word perfect, but these oatmeal cookies are pretty close to it.
A few notes and keys to success…
Normally I’m all for butter, but with this cookie recipe there is no sub…oil is what works best, and is a bit healthier too. Over the years I’ve discovered that you can use melted coconut (which I prefer) or extra virgin olive oil (which is also delicious but adds a little flavor to the cookie).
To make these a heartier cookie, I replaced half of the white flour with whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar by half. And of course, was sure to stir in plenty of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate.
Oh, and you can’t forget a nice dusting of flaky sea salt. You don’t have to, but it sure is good…
One thing I do want to note is that these cookie bars are crumbly. It’s just the way they are, and it’s apart of what makes them delicious. So embrace the crumbly cookie bar. Promise you, it’s so good.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re so easy to make. They require no chilling and truly take just thirty minutes from start to finish. I almost always have these ingredients on hand. So when it’s Friday night and the urge for a delicious yet slightly healthier chocolatey cookie comes on? These cookies are always what I bake. Always.
They’re just perfectly crisp on the edges but soft and gooey in the middle. The best kind of cookie.
Bake these tonight, or sometime this weekend. Then make them again whenever you’re craving something sweet. Perfect for any time of the year bar, and such a great staple recipe. Hope you ENJOY!
Looking for other healthier desserts for the weekend? Some favorites…
Healthy…ish Homemade Samoas Cookies
Fudgy Avocado Brownies with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Lastly, if you make these healthier dark chocolate chunk oatmeal 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!
Healthier Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 262 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
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2-3/4 cup light brown sugar, us more for a sweeter cookie (I use only 1/2 cup)
- 1/4-1/2 cup granulated sugar, us more for a sweeter cookie (I use only 1/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup melted coconut oil (see notes)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with butter or line with parchment paper. 2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the oatmeal, flour, whole wheat flour brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until the dough is moist and all the ingredients are combined. The dough will be crumbly. Mix in the chocolate chunks. 3. Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. It will seem crumbly. Transfer to the oven and bake 18-20 minutes or until the edges are set and the bars are golden. Sprinkle with flaky salt (if desired). Let cool and then cut into bars.
Notes
To Make Gluten Free: Use an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I recommend Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
To Replace Coconut Oil: use an equal amount of olive oil, melted butter, or canola oil.
Storing: these cookies keep well for 3-4 days at room temperature.
This post was originally published on May 15, 2020
Just made them with my boys; in the oven now with 5 min. remaining. If bars taste anything as good as heavenly smell filling my house then Holy Cow!!!….;) Thanks for sharing your amazing recipe!!
Oh yeah!! So happy things are smelling good! Hope you guys all love these! Oh and trust me, eat some while they are hot. It’s incredible!
So I did a little research…you can also substitute applesauce for oil.
So i am going to do half the oil and half applesauce next time. See how it goes.
Let me know, I hope it works greats!
These are really good. They are a healthier option. I definitely should have added up the calories before I made these. I did make some substitutes right off the back. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. 1 cup of dark chocolate 1 1/2 cup of wheat flour. The oil is what really got me. I agree coconut oil has healthy benefits. But it is way to much. I am going to research how to minimize that and it should be a great recipe.
I hate to rain on everyone’s parade, and although I can see that the author is being tongue-in-cheek, some of the commenter’s haven’t grasped that these are in no way healthy and that’s fairly worrying.
First of all, you need to compare the dark chocolate you buy with a common milk choc in terms of sugar content. You would be surprised but many dark chocolates have just as much sugar in them and milk ones – just less cocoa butter etc.
Secondly, coconut oil is not healthy in these doses. It’s still a saturated fat at the end of the day. Proportionately the amount of oil in a couple of these squares is over your daily saturated fat limit if you’re a lady 200 (oil) + 40 (choc) / 9 = 26 (your daily limit is 20)
I’m not having a go, I’m just saying that you need to sit down and use a bit of maths to decide if something is actually in any way healthy.
Hi Richard,
I do realize that these may not be the healthiest dessert bars around, but they are much healthier than my original recipe. I am I no way trying to say that these are health food, only just healthier and people can decide wether or not they are healthy enough for them and their families.
Also the dark chocolate I used for these was pure dark chocolate and as for the coconut oil, I have read many great things about its health benefits.
No worries. Richard. Holding our umbrellas open while enjoying each bite of these delicious dark chocolate oatmeal bars.
LOL! So happy you love them! Thanks so very much, Heather!! You are too sweet!
I tried the canola oil swap because I didn’t have coconut oil on hand; they tasted amazing but were very crumbly, like I couldnt pick one up without it breaking. Maybe canola oil doesnt bind the bars as well as coconut oil does, however they tasted too good not to try again!
Generally, no matter what oil you use these are very crumbly bars. Most of the time we eat them with a fort, but we the love the crumbly texture!! Thanks so much for trying them and I am glad you like them!
Oh my goodness! They are making my mouth water! Cannot wait to try your recipe, thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! I hope you love them!
So I was thinking about making these and was debating if I should add some peanut butter chips and or raisins. Also thinking about using honey instead of brown sugar and all whole wheat flour, what do you think?
Hmmm…. Yes to the peanut butter chips and to the all whole wheat flour, but I am not sure about the honey. I love the idea of using all honey, but I think it will change the consistency and texture of the bars. Honestly, I think it would become more of a granola than a cookie. The dough would be too wet and would not be able to bake up properly. Also, if you do use all whole wheat flour the bars will be a little more dense and a lot more filling as well, but I would think still delicious!
Let me know how it goes!
These were incredibly easy to make, I just tossed everything in my stand mixer! I halved the recipe and used an 8×8 pan, as well as 85% cocoa Lindt chocolate and I added walnuts. They were deliciously chewy and sweet and crunchy and I ate about half the pan myself! I don’t think I would gift these to anyone because of how crumby it was, but it is definitely a make-again for my family!
Thank you so much, Anon! I am so glad you guys liked these! Oh any yeah, they are crumbly but thats what we love about them! Thanks again!
Hi! I have an 8×8 pan too. How long did you did bake it t for?
I’d like to get my hands on a few of these bars! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Thanks Karly!
These look so great. I can’t wait to try them!
Thanks Renea!
Oh my- I could sure go for some of those right about now.
Thanks Gina!
I know what we’ll be making today! I have all the ingredients at home, don’t even have to make a run to the store. Thanks so much for sharing. They look DELICOIUS!
Yes!! Hope you love these as much as we do!
So I saw this recipie and thought… YUM!
And so I made it. However, I found that it wasnt sweet enough, which was odd – I’d actually put extra sugar in already. Our chocolate wasnt that dark, only 62%. And it was definitely mixed through properly.
However, I didn’t want anything to go to waste. More than that, actually – I wanted to save it! So I added some golden syrup and coconut (just cause I love coconut and chocolate as a combo), as well as a little bit more of the brown sugar. After stirring it through, I put it in the oven again for a few more minutes. Luckily, it worked! The only difference was that the mixture was a lot darker, not because of being overcooked but because the chocolate had melted during the first bake (yum) so then some of the chocolate got stirred through the mixture.
Just curious, did anyone else find that it wasnt quite sweet enough?
Hi Phoebe,
These are not meant to be overly sweet and I add lots and chocolate to help with that. I am sorry you thought they were not sweet enough, but your additions sounds delicious!
Can I substitute the same amount of white flour? I just don’t have whole wheat flour on hand. Thanks. They look great.
Yup! Hope you love these!
Found your site through Pinterest and just loved this post – laugh out loud funny:-)
Thank you so much!