Choco Oatmeal Bars

Recently i have been looking for healthier baked desserts. I usually scour the net for recipes, but i'm shocked by how much sugar a cake recipe calls for! So i usually follow the recipe, but use less fats (oil, butter, margarine) and sugar.

My idea is to incorporate oats, which is my favorite healthy food, to my baking. It's very filling and has loads of fiber. And i like its chewy texture when added to cookies. Plus oats has been known to help increase breast milk production, so nursing moms should really much on them.

I was inspired by the revel bar recipe from Bake Happy and All Recipes but i tamed down the butter and the sugar. Now, without further ado, here is my recipe for choco-oatmeal bars! The result was not so sweet but still deliciously decadent, in my humble opinion. ;)

What you'll need: 

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (grated chocolate bar) 
• 1 300 ml condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup butter (softened)
• ½ cup toasted cashews  

 Procedure:

1. Mix the old fashioned oats with ¼ of the condensed milk. Set this aside.
2. In a pan on low fire, melt ½ of the butter and the rest of the condensed milk. Add the unsweetened chocolate, stir until melted. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Stir in the toasted cashews. Let this mixture cool.
3. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract.
4. Sift  the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Mix the dry ingredients with the butter and sugar mixture. Fold in the oats mixture.
6. Preheat oven to 325 . Grease a 9 X 13 baking pan & line with baking paper.
7. Spread 2/3 of the oat mixture to pan. Pat down the mixture firmly using a spatula. Next pour the melted chocolate mixture. Then place the remaining lumps of oats mixture on top of the chocolate.
8. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into bars. This recipe yields about 2 dozen bars. 

Enjoy this warm with your coffee!

This is the second baking recipe i've shared so far. woo hooo.... #feelingexperttalaga

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