Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Oat Bars
Did everyone have a good weekend?? We had my uncle and his girlfriend over for dinner on Saturday and we made him an awesome birthday dinner with shrimp and grits and flourless chocolate cake (recipes to come soon!). Sunday was pretty low-key but I did some grading (I’m teaching a writing enrichment class this summer) and we went to see Ant Man with Paul Rudd. Man, I do love Paul Rudd. He always makes me think of Friends–such a great show! But the movie was pretty good overall. Ted always makes me go see all the Marvel movies so in comparison I wouldn’t say it was the best out of all of them but it had some laugh out loud funny parts and some of the ants were pretty cute hehe.
I somewhat regret not going to the gym at all this weekend after all the highly caloric delicious food we ate but then the regret quickly passes!
What did you all do over the weekend?? Did you see any good movies you’d recommend? I’m trying to get in all my movie/binge TV watching in the next couple weeks before actual school starts in August. Eeeep!
In other news, I was trying to find a fun dessert to try out last week that used up some Reeses Pieces we had lying around our pantry and came across this awesome recipe from Lil’ Luna for chocolate oat bars. She had found the recipe through Betty Crocker and raved about it. The verdict in our house: definitely a WIN! (we even snuck some into the movie theater to watch Ant Man shhh)
Lil’ Luna had modified it from Betty Crocker’s original recipe which called for nuts (I left those out as well) and had upped the chocolate amount. I decided to modify it as well and make a little more oat mixture to balance out the thick chocolate layer.
I threw in a couple M&M’s for good measure so the topping wouldn’t be so Halloween-y!
Mix in the softened butter with the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and flour. Cinnamon always pairs nicely with chocolate and oats and it’s a great addition.
Once combined, reserve 1 cup of the mixture and press the rest into the bottom of a greased 9×13” pan.
Now you can make the chocolate layer. Combine 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter.
Stir until the chocolate melts and it is nice and smooth.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan.
Smooth the chocolate over top of the oatmeal mixture.
Take the reserved 1 cup of oatmeal mixture and crumble into small chunks to put on top of the chocolate.
Now, top the oats and chocolate with the Reese’s Pieces (and a few M&M’s!). Press lightly on them just so they stay put when you cut them into pieces after they are baked.
There are lots of ways to modify this recipe. If you want more peanut butter flavor swap out some of the chocolate chips for a tablespoon or two of creamy peanut butter.
If you want less of a chocolate layer, only use 1 cup of the chocolate chips (like Betty Crocker did). You don’t necessarily have to add more oat mixture but I needed a little somethin’ to balance out the super sweet chocolate.
You can also top this dessert with other types of candies (especially depending on the occasion you need it for–pastel colors for Easter, red and green for Christmas, green and white for St. Patrick’s day, etc.)
Easy chocolate bars sandwiched between layers of oats and brown sugar. They are super decadent and rich!
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons butter (softened)--for oat mixture
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons butter (softened)--for chocolate mixture
- 1 cup Reese's Pieces
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and 1 cup+2 Tbsp softened butter with a spoon. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture for later.
- Press remaining mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 dish.
- In a small pot, melt condensed milk, chocolate chips and the last 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat.
- Stir constantly until chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Pour chocolate chip mixture over the oat mixture and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle leftover cup of oat mixture over the chocolate.
- Top with Reese's Pieces and bake for 23-25 minutes.
- Be sure to let it cool for a couple hours before you cut into pieces otherwise it will be somewhat mushy!
Notes
*Feel free to change the type of chocolate you use and the candies you put on top of the bars! You could even add in some peanut butter to the chocolate mixture.
