oatmeal chocolate chunk bars

My family is sometimes, uhh… Not very understanding when it comes to my baking and blogging. I love my family and thought they deserved something sweet that wasn't gluten, dairy, and sugar free. Because they've had their fair share of muffins, granola bars, and homemade muesli. As I was baking these bars today, literally all 4 of my family members were either yelling at me for not using a recipe, saying they were gonna turn out weird, or asking a million questions a second. I think that I've made enough cookie recipes to know what kind of ratios make what kinds of cookies. Sometimes, people don't get it. At least that's how I feel. As I was in the living room taking pictures {these bars are dang ugly}, adjusting the bars, switching the ISO, and all those blogger-like things, my family was laughing and saying how dumb it was. Umm, ok. My mom freaks out if I don't use a recipe and come up with one by myself. I told her no high class pastry chef goes to allrecipes.com for their recipes. Sure, I love classic desserts, but I think in order to give yourself a name, you have to step out of the "normal" and try new things others maybe wouldn't think of. I guess I'm kind of on my own as far as being a baking blogger goes. They don't get it, but ya know what? They don't need to. I love my food, I love my pictures, and I love my blog. I'll keep on doing it for as long as I live, regardless of what other people think. I'm gonna be honest, I was close to just dumping out the creamed butter and sugar and walking away because I felt so unappreciated and ignored. Guys, I was making you BARS! With sugar! And butter! And flour! No need to go all le freak on moi. Lo and behold, they all loved these bars after sitting there drooling and asking me when they could try a bite as I was taking the pictures. 

While I was watching my Food Network and drinking my cup of coffee this morning, I texted my mom and asked if they could pick up some oats and chocolate at the grocery store because I wanted to make some cookies. She texted back "Yes!!" exclamation points and all, which… is kind of a big deal. It's rare that I suggest a recipe that doesn't have some sort of fruit in it and a "with" or "and" in the title. One of our favorite cookies around here are oatmeal chocolate chip. I was originally planning on making these into cookies, but I have a case of what I'm calling summer-break-ultra-laziness and just pressed the dough into a bar pan. Oh and by the way. This recipe? I made it up. :) These bars are really chewy, soft, and buttery. If you're texture-crazy like me, I think you'll love these. The oats give them a really great texture and the chocolate forms little pockets of melty joy throughout the bars. Seriously, your taste buds are gonna do the harlem shake, electric slide, gangnam style, party rock shuffle all at the same time.  

oatmeal chocolate chunk bars

3/4 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 c. wholewheat flour

2 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt 

1 1/2 c. chocolate chunks {or chocolate chips}

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease or line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir until combined. Fold in chocolate chunks. Press dough into prepared pan and bake for 15-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool before slicing into squares.