I'd like to think these Cowboy Oatmeal Bars from Land O'Lakes are actually good for you, loaded with oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate, they'll definitely help fuel you for a long trail ride or hike in the woods. Easy enough to make, mix all the ingredients together in one bowl then press into the bottom of your dutch oven. The original recipe calls for baking them in a 15 by 10 inch pan so you could probably make them in a 14 inch dutch oven. I used my 12 inch oven, with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom and 24 on the lid, they were golden brown in 20 minutes. Cool them completely before lifting out with the parchment paper and cutting into squares. I didn't have any peanut butter chips so used 2 cups of chocolate chips instead, they were soft, chewy and brimming with chocolate, you won't be disappointed with these dynamite bars.
Cowboy Oatmeal Bars
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup milk OR real semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Lightly oil or spray dutch oven; line with parchment paper.
Combine butter, brown sugar and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed.
Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.
Add oats; mix well. Stir in peanut butter chips, chocolate chips and walnuts.
Press dough evenly into prepared dutch oven.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool in dutch oven. Remove using parchment paper and cut into bars.
 |
| Press batter into bottom of dutch oven |
 |
Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees |
Looks good, I will have to try them.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to make these this weekend during a Boy Scout camping trip. Do you think you could mix the entire dough up before the trip to cut down on onsite prep time? There is a lot of mixing.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack, thanks for stopping by. I'm not sure about making the batter beforehand, it's a bit stickier than cookie dough and if you refrigerate it, it may be difficult to spread in your oven. I would suggest mixing the sugars in one zip lock bag, then the flour, baking soda, salt and oats in another. That way all you have to do is cream the sugars and butter, beat in the eggs and vanilla then stir in the rest. All you need to bring is one bowl. Have a great trip, hope the boys like them! Liddy
ReplyDeleteThe bars were a hit! We had no power (so no blender) and it was 28 degrees outside. It took about 30 min to incorporate the butter and the sugar - we mixed it well but I wouldn't call the butter and sugar mix "creamy". To make it easier to mix the butter by hand, put it in a ziplock bag put it in your sleeping bag the night before to keep the butter soft (lesson learned). Mixing everything else, while labor intensive, went smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThere is some extra prep time when out in the woods. I still think there is a way to make this ahead of time. I'll report back when I figure it out.
Thanks for the report Jack, so glad everyone liked the recipe. Sounds like mixing the butter and sugar was a real challenge, softening butter in freezing temperatures does require some creative thinking. You could always test mixing the batter at home, leave it in your fridge overnight then bake it the next day in your dutch or conventional oven to see how it comes out. Sounds like you had a great adventure! Liddy
ReplyDeleteMe again. You can make the batter the night before. We stored the batter wrapped in parchment paper inside a ziplock bag in the fridge overnight. The bars turned out as good as if we made the batter that morning.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really good to know, sure makes life a lot easier at your campsite. Thanks for the doing the reasearch and sharing your results. Liddy
ReplyDeleteYour bars look very square for being cooked in a round pot... how did you do that?
ReplyDeleteIf you line your dutch oven with parchment paper you can lift them out in one piece after they have cooled. I used a large knife to slice them in rows on a cutting board, you can't see the round ones from the edges because I ate them all! Liddy
ReplyDeleteThese are great! Made them in the home oven on a cookie sheet. Plan on trying them in the D.O. soon.
ReplyDeleteTried these tonight for a family party. I doubled the recipe and it turned out incredible!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked the recipe, good to know you can easily double the recipe, Liddy
DeleteHotels evaluated over 3 stars have elite bars. There are a few diverse kind of bars, including mixed drink, wine, dance, biker, gay, sports, and so on Some have diversion organized on a phase, for example, jokesters, live groups, go-go artists, strippers and so on A few bars have bowling territory. motels in Clinton mo
ReplyDelete