This is a guest post from Roxanna at The Red Eye Baker. Roxanna has been helping me behind the scenes with blog maintenance and I’ve been helping her learn to be a better food blogger. You can see all of Roxana’s recipes here!
Happy September! I love the fall… the changing leaves, the crisp air, only needing a light jacket or your favorite sweater, and PUMPKINS! While I haven’t broken out the pumpkin recipes just yet, with back-to-school time also here I decided to share some yummy oatmeal goodness.
Over the summer I was feeling a bit lazy when it came to baking. That’s actually pretty typical for me. Even though I live in the Midwest, our summers do get hot and often when I do turn on the oven in July or August next thing I know the A/C seems like it never shuts off. LOL Anyway, my mom gave me a homemade sour cherry filling that she made and at the same time my nephew’s birthday was coming up. Since I was free from cake making duty, I just wanted to make something simple (again… I was feeling lazy). I had made these bars before, but never with a fruit filling. All of a sudden it dawned on me how many different ways I could make them. And yes, I can’t believe the inspiration never hit me sooner. I just may have to write a post about the different variations I come up with, but we’ll save that for later. ;)
Now here we are in September. My munchkin #1 started 5th grade and munchkin #2 is in 2nd grade! <sigh> When we were talking about packing lunches again and what they wanted in them, my daughter asked “Mom, can you make those cherry chocolate chip bars you made for my cousin’s birthday?” How could I refuse! I highly recommend using sour cherries for the filling. It balances nicely with the chocolate and the sweetness in the oatmeal mixture. And let’s not forget this is an easy recipe… perfect for when you’re not feeling overly ambitious in the kitchen. ;)
Enjoy and happy baking!
xox Roxana- The Red Eye Baker
Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
- 2 c quick or old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 3/4 c packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 c (2 sticks) butter, melted
- 2 1/2 c sour cherry filling (or 21 oz canned)
- 3/4 c mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray a 9 x 13 rectangular baking pan with non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and add the melted butter. Stir to combine all the ingredients. The mixture should be crumbly, but evenly coated by the butter.
- Reserve 1 cup of the oatmeal mixture and press the remainder evenly into the pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Combine the chocolate chips with the reserved oatmeal mixture.
- Once the bottom crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Spread the sour cherry filling evenly over the top, then sprinkle with the oatmeal chocolate chip topping.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.
- Cool completely and cut into bars.
Melissa
Sunday 31st of March 2024
Delicious recipe! thumbs up from each of my family members!