This dessert bar uses oatmeal in the base, providing a heathier dessert.
The recipe was adapted from a recipe printed on the back of a package of Diamond Premium Walnut pieces.
For the caramel, we used the 1-ingredient slow cooker dulce de leche recipe
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup canola oil (OR ¼ cup plain applesauce, if you want to reduce the fat)
- 2 cups (12 oz package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1½ cups chopped walnuts
- 1 cup spreadable caramel (See dulce de leche recipe, or use 1 caramel ice cream topping mixed with ¼ - ⅓ cup all-purpose flour)
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil.
- Stir baking soda into the 2 cups flour in a large bowl. Then stir in the oats and brown sugar. Add melted butter and oil (or applesauce), and stir until all ingredients are moistened.
- Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for later use. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the lined baking pan.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Remove the baking pan from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts. Then put small blobs of caramel on top, spreading lightly to cover. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes more or until lightly browned. Cool in pan before cutting and serving.
Note that sodium percentages depend on which daily reference you use. The estimated 17 mg of sodium per 1 bar serving implies that one serving of this recipe provides:
– 1% of the U.S. FDA daily reference value for sodium for a 2,000-calorie diet that includes 2,400 mg sodium, or
–1% of the American Heart Association recommendation of 1,500 mg sodium per day, or
–2% of the Ménière’s diet recommendation of 1,000 mg sodium per day.
(As is the case with all of the recipes on this web site, the nutrition information provided in this recipe is only an estimate based on nutrition information provided on the packaging of each of the ingredients we used in this recipe and/or on a variety of sources on the web. This information should be regarded as an opinion only, with no guarantees that it is accurate. Obviously, the nutritional information will vary depending on the ingredients and quantities that you use.)
