Oatmeal Fudge Bars

Last Saturday, toward the end of my several-week kick of productivity, I was sorting through my mom's Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines searching for the recipe for Wellesley Fudge Cake I had seen a few months ago, and it was then I found a recipe for oatmeal fudge bars. Upon reading the list of ingredients, I realized we had everything the recipe called for, so I decided to go ahead and bake some (looking at lots of dessert recipes sure can build up your appetite).

This was a very easy treat to put together. The hardest part was waiting it to cool so that I could taste it. I did not have a 9-inch square pan like the recipe called for, so I used an 8-inch pan. This made for a thicker bar, but I didn't mind...The end result was a super-tasty combination of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate. In the future, I think the addition of cinnamon might give this dessert that little something extra.

As for the recipe:

Crust and Topping
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly



Filling
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs

1. For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat over to 325 degrees F. Prepare square baking pan (8 or 9 inch) by lining with aluminum foil and spraying with cooking spray. Whisk together dry ingredients, stir in butter until combined. Set aside 1 1/4 cups of mixture. Press remaining mixture into bottom of pan. Bake until light golden brown, 8 minutes. Cool completely.

2.For the filling: Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt chocolate chips and butter in a large bowl; whisk in eggs, then stir in flour mixture. Pour filling over cooled crust and sprinkle with reserved oatmeal mixture.

3. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes (longer if using 8 inch pan). Cool to room temperature and the cut into squares.

Note: When I melted the chocolate (in a glass bowl over simmering water), I noticed that the chocolate seemed a bit dry, even with the butter. I have never experienced this before and chalked it up to the chocolate chips- they were Nestle and may have been on the older side... In the future, I might try fresh Ghirardelli chips (I use Ghirardelli for almost everything).