Festive Oat and Candy Cookie Bars

Week 10 already? We're really flying. I just can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. Speaking of Christmas, I'll be having a great giveaway starting tomorrow for Orglamix makeup. It would make a great gift for someone or, if you want to gift yourself with it, be my guest (I'd do the same).

Thank you also for all your congratulations last week. I felt so loved.

For my pick this week, I made these Festive Oat and Candy Cookie Bars.


After seeing them at Louanne's Kitchen, I just couldn't resist. I'm definitely glad I gave in to the temptation because these bars were everything she said they would be. They were gooey and chocolatey and yummy to the very last bite. Like Louanne, I made these with M&Ms because that's what I had on hand. I also like how the M&Ms give the bars a really festive look for the holidays. But feel free to use other types of candies too if that's what you have in your pantry. According to Louanne, Snickers, Almond Joy, and Twix are all heavenly as well.

One word to the wise - she recommends lining the pan with parchment paper. So, what's wrong with the picture below?


Yup, I thought I could get away with simply greasing the pan. I realized what a mistake that was later on when I had to practically chisel my bars out of it. Lesson learned.

Festive Oat and Candy Cookie Bars (Louanne's Kitchen)

2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (I omitted these)
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups M&Ms, divided
1 14-oz can condensed milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter or spray a 13x9 pan, then line with parchment paper, so that paper extends over long-side of pan; set aside.

Mix oats, flour, pecans, brown sugar, baking soda and salt together. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle melted butter into oat mixture; mix until crumbly.

Remove 2 cups of mixture and pat remaining mixture into prepared pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool; lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Melt 1 cup of the M&M's in the microwave for about 60-90 seconds; remove and combine with condensed milk, stirring well. Pour over crust and set aside. Combine reserved crumb mixture with reserved 1/2 cup of M&M's; sprinkle over M&;M and condensed milk mixture. Bake for 28-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Note: I'd definitely recommend chilling these bars overnight in the fridge before cutting them. If not, they'll be a little too gooey and won't hold their bar shape very well.

This recipe is linked to:
Prairie Story Recipe Swap Thursday
Friday Potluck
Friday Favorites
Foodie Fridays
Feature Yourself Fridays
Homemade Holidays Recipe Swap
Saturday's Party

Week 10 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: