Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When I was looking for a recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars, I knew it wouldn't exactly be healthy, but at least I wanted one that had some good stuff (read: fiber) in it and wasn't too sugary. I liked this recipe because it has (roughly) equal amounts of cookie dough and oats, so one day I made it in someone else's oven and discovered it had way too much sugar. The pan size it requires is too big to fit in my toaster oven, so today I modified the recipe for my 9 x 6.5" pan, cut way back on the sugar, and substituted dark chocolate chips. I was delighted with the result, so I'm posting it here.

 

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (you can soften it in the microwave on power 1--it usually takes 30 sec to 2 min)
3/8 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (can use mix of white and wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pinch of salt (this is what happens when you halve a recipe...)
1 1/2 cups rolled ("old-fashioned") oats
6 ounces (1 cup) dark chocolate chips

Instructions:
1. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer on high.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
4. Add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture, beating on low or medium.
5. Stir in oats, beating on low. Last, add chocolate chips and stir them in the same way. (If the dough is too stiff, you might want to use your hands instead.) You can substitute raisins or chopped nuts for some of the chocolate chips, if you prefer.
6. Flatten cookie dough into a greased 9 x 6.5" baking dish. It's ok for there to be a few cracks in the dough, but mostly it should be flat.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and cookies are set in the middle. If you're unsure, test with a knife (it'll probably get chocolate on it, but it shouldn't come out with any cookie dough on it).
8. Cool for 20 minutes; cut into 1-inch squares.

To use a 9 x 13" pan, follow these directions:

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (you can soften it in the microwave on power 1--it usually takes 1-2 min)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can use mix of white and wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 cups rolled ("old-fashioned") oats
12 ounces (2 cups) dark chocolate chips

Follow instructions above for mixing. Bake in a 9 x 13" pan for 30-35 minutes.