Houston, we have a working oven! This is what I screamed to Eric when I turned on our newly installed oven for the first time this weekend. To celebrate this momentous occasion I made something I’ve been craving for the past 6 weeks – warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies. [Fact: store-bought cookies just aren’t the same.] Then I made oatmeal cookie bars. Somehow I convinced Eric that these were an “anniversary gift” that I made “just for him” (he’s been in OSG baked good withdrawal during this kitchen reno), but we all know that this ready-to-pop, basketball smugglin’ preggo lady planned on eating her fair share complete with Coffee Shop Worthy Caramel Hazelnut Milk. Yea, it was a good weekend. I hope my oven and I shall never part again.
What can I tell you about these bars? Well, first off, we could not stop eating them. Eric said, “They are so light, I feel like I could eat 6 of them without feeling sick!” I suppose that’s a good thing? The gluten-free cookie base is made of up rolled oats (some of which I ground into a flour for binding purposes) and almond flour, just like my favourite GF + vegan cookies on the blog. There aren’t any gums or starches to speak of and because of this they are quite delicate when they first come out of the oven, but the crust bakes up crisp, chewy, and slightly caramelized so it’s a terrific balance. Let me tell you – the crispy corner pieces are prime real estate! Only your favourite people are worthy of the corner pieces. If you have one of those “Baker’s Edge” brownie pans, now would be a good time to put it to use. Then you can avoid that awkward moment when you hand the middle piece to a friend and take the corner piece for yourself.
I used coconut sugar to give the bars a gorgeous dark golden hue and a hint of toffee/caramel flavour. The added bonus when using coconut sugar is that it has a low glycemic index compared to other sugars (35), so it won’t spike your blood sugar as quickly. According to my logic, this means I can eat twice as many. Correct? Phew.
I don’t think I need to tell you that these are great with a scoop of vegan ice cream, but I’ll throw it out there just in case. We turned one into an open-faced ice cream sandwich by chilling a bar and serving it with a scoop of vegan ice cream on top. Oh my lanta. It’s great to have an oven.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Toffee Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Yield
12 bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These cookie bars are soft, delicate, and chewy in the middle with a crispy outer edge. Coconut sugar lends a wonderful toffee flavour to these bars. Try serving them with vegan ice cream for an easy dessert or just enjoy them with some homemade almond milk. Recipe adapted from my vegan and GF cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) ground flax
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) water
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (75 mL) virgin coconut oil, softened
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) natural smooth almond butter
- 3/4 cup (120 g) coconut sugar*
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (108 g) oat flour**
- 3/4 cup (75 g) gluten-free rolled oats
- 3/4 cup (75 g) almond flour
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (60 g) non-dairy mini chocolate chips, divided
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Mix the ground flax and water in a small bowl or mug and set aside to thicken.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the coconut oil, almond butter, and sugar with electric beaters until combined.
- Pour in the flax mixture and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and beat again.
- Finally add in the oat flour, rolled oats, almond flour, and 1/4 cup of chocolate chips (reserving the 1 tablespoon for later) and beat until combined.
- Spoon dough into prepared pan and spread out until smooth and even. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top and press down. I use a pastry roller to roll the dough out even.
- Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden and firm around the edges. (The edges will be high and the middle portion will be sunken a bit. This is all normal!)
- Gently place the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then, carefully lift out the bars and place directly on cooling rack for another 10 minutes or so, until mostly cool. Slice and enjoy! Note: The bars will crumble slightly if sliced warm, but they firm up nicely when cooled.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or in the freezer (tightly wrapped and placed in a freezer bag) for up to 3 to 4 weeks.
Tip:
- * Instead of coconut sugar, you can try using unpacked light brown sugar.
- ** To make the freshly ground oat flour, add 3/4 cup rolled oats into a high speed blender. Blend on high until a very fine flour forms. This will make 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of oat flour. Or you can simply use store-bought oat flour.
- This recipe is an updated version as of May 24/16. The previous version did not contain almond butter, and it had 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil. Everything else is the same.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Cheers to September, baking, and working ovens!
Made these today! Yumm really good!
Hey,
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Hi Ravneet, I wouldn’t recommend subbing coconut flour in this recipe because it is such a “thirsty” flour and tends to throw off a recipe. I would suggest trying another type of ground nuts or ground sunflower seeds if you can’t have nuts. Hope this helps!
Not sure if you are still reading comments on this post, but here goes. I made these bars a few months ago and they were literally the best thing I ever put in my mouth; however, they crumbled into pieces in my hands and didn’t stay in bar-form. I let them cool first, so that wasn’t it. Did I not grind the oats for long enough, or maybe I should have put in a little more coconut oil or water? I want to make them again for a potluck, so I’d like to figure out how to make them stick together better this time. I haven’t made them since that first time because they are so good it’s scary.
Hey Sarah, I haven’t had this issue, but I’m going to re-test them and report back! :)
Thanks so much for the updates to the recipe! These bars were fan-freakin-tastic before and now they’re even more fan-freakin-tastic. Don’t know how you found time to do this with everything else going on in your life, but thank you!
I just made these and whilst they taste amazing they are very crumbly and look more like flapjacks than yours. I had to make a substitution for almond flour as I was out of them so I ground up some cashews I’m wondering if this created the crumbly texture or if I should have cooked them for longer. Thanks!
Hi Samantha, I haven’t had a problem with crumbliness (though they’re a bit delicate until they’ve cooled completely), but I know a few people have: I’m hoping to re-test them soon and report back! :)
Hello! I made these earlier today and they were very tasty, however they did not puff up and crumbled. I swapped out the almond flour for homemade walnut flour, as I can’t have almonds and was wondering if that may have made a difference? Many of my bars lately seem to be crumbling. Any help would be appreciated! Also – I absolutely love all your recipes, both in the cookbook and blog. Your cookbook is my all time favourite! Thanks for all your help!
Angela – I don’t see where it says to add the almond butter in the body of the recipe itself??? Making these now, so I may just wing it – they sound so good!
Just made the updated version… Twice in a row! Made them Wednesday night for book club, could barely get them out of the door before my family ate them all. They were gone in no time. Made them again Thursday night for family and they were gone in <24 hours. Everybody LOVED them!
Just one question, when should you add the almond butter? First time, I added in step 3, then second time added in step 6. Couldn't tell a difference, so I guess it works either way?
Thanks for another fool proof recipe Angela, you are a genius! I have gifted your cookbook 3 times now and can't wait for the new one. I'm loving the app, and the frequent updates there. Congrats on all your hard earned success!!
Hi Michelle, it’s so great to hear you’re enjoying the recipe (and that it’s been a hit with your friends and family, too!). As to your question, I suggest adding the almond butter in Step 3. Thanks so much for the kind and lovely words, and for spreading the cookbook love!
Great recipe. Just made it from the app. But you don’t mention when to add the almond butter in your instructions.
Thanks for all the healthy great recipes :)
Hey Cynthia, Sorry about that! It’s in there now :)
Thank you! I just have to say my kids absolutely loved this. I’m so happy to have a healthy recipe for them. And all of your recipes are a hit. I’m vegan and it makes a HUGE difference to have great recipes like yours! Can’t wait for your next cookbook ;) Thank you!
With such a delicious sounding name I had to try making these! I swapped the coconut sugar for 1 cup of soaked puréed dates (more nutritional minerals in dates) & swapped almond flour for coconut flour – yummo! Thanks for the recipie & sharing?
It’s great to hear those substitutions worked out well! Thanks for sharing, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.:)
Hi Angela,
I just want to thank you for this fantastic recipe. These are the BEST bars. I have made them three times now and just think they are amazing. I freeze some and take them out for the next day and they are just as great. The only change I’ve made is not use cacao nibs instead of the vegan chocolate chips. Probably added a little more crunch? Most afternoons I have a cup of coffee and two bars, an excellent combination.
Hey Angela! Great recipe! Loved it. In the app version of the recipe it doesn’t say what to do with the almond butter. Just wanted to let you know! :)
Hey Elaine, Thanks so much! It’s in there now :)
Great! Wow you are fast! :)
Just made these cookie bars and they are fantastic. Thank you!
Amazing!! Ive been playing with the recipe a little too! I overflow the teaspoon of cinnamon which i think adds a little more to the bars. I also drizzle a little bit of coconut oil and coconut sugar on top of the bars before baking which I love. Being vegan it’s hard to find good dessert recipes and this one is one of my favorites. It is so easy to make too! Highly recommend. Ive made it for so many people who aren’t even vegan and they can’t even tell the difference!
Thanks so much for sharing, Jessica! Those tweaks sound delish.
Hi Angela, I noticed you use almond flour in a lot of your baking recipes. Is there anything I could use as a substitution? I have an almond sensitivity (wouldn’t call it an allergy) and have omitted almonds from my diet.
Thanks
Hiya,
Thank you so much for this recipe. I couldn’t help but try it out after I saw it.
I had to make a bigger quantity and didn’t have enough ingredient so I ended up using plain flour for the recipe instead and made 1.5 times the recipe given. The dough ended up being like breadcrumbs (similar to what you would have on a crumble). Was that how it was supposed to be? Or is it supposed to come together like a cookie dough? Could it be the plain flour?I wasn’t sure so I ended up adding a little bit more oil, peanut butter and even some almond milk to bring it together. It looks alright for now. I’m waiting for it to cool down at the moment. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! :)
Hey Madhuri, It’s been a while since I made these so I can’t quite recall what the dough is like. Sorry about that! Did the bars turn out okay with your substitutions?
Yeah it did turn out alright. I haven’t tried it again but maybe it just needed more liquid to bind it together. I hope to try it again sometime cos everyone really liked it. Thanks so much for the recipe. Will let you know if I find any changes that work with the plain flour change. Thanks once again!
If you do not have electric beaters, can this be made with a food processor?
Great flavor, but it completely crumbles and didn’t hold any shape.
I followed the receipt exactly?
Hey Julie, I’m so sorry to hear you ran into trouble with this recipe. I haven’t personally had a problem with crumbliness (though these bars are always a bit delicate until they’ve cooled completely!), but I know a number of people have in the past. I recently re-tested and updated the recipe, partially to try to resolve that issue; one of the changes is the new addition of almond butter, which you’ll want to be drippy—avoid using the dry stuff at the bottom of the jar. Other than that, is it possible the bars overbaked a bit and ended up drying out a little too much? Some ovens run hotter than others, so it can happen pretty easily, unfortunately! I hope you have better luck with the recipe if you try it again…and until then, maybe you’ve got a good topping on-hand for some banana soft serve or smoothies? ;)
Hi Angela,
This look amazing! I have a double batch in the oven right now.
Is there nutritional info for these?
Yum, I hope you enjoyed the cookies, Rebecca! Unfortunately, I don’t have the nutritional info for them on hand, but if you head over to a site like caloriecount.com or nutritiondata.com, you should be able to plug the recipe info in there and find out what you want to know fairly quickly. I hope that helps!
Thanks Angela! They are scrumptious! A little addictive though ?
Just made these (with a few substitutions), and they’re delicious! I used conventional peanut butter (since that’s what I had), so I scaled back the salt a bit. Since regular peanut butter is a bit thicker than most almond butters, I felt like the batter was a bit dry, and I added a few tablespoons of almond milk. Baked for about 25 minutes on 350 convection. Delicious!!
Thanks for sharing, Amanda! It’s great to hear those swaps worked out well.
Hi Angela,
First of all I’m SUCH a big fan of yours. It’s like you read my mind and created all the foods I love to eat but didn’t know how to make. I also love how you have a nut-free section, since I have a peanut/ nut allergy.
I’m just struggling with some recipes because they call for flaxseed or ground flaxseed but I can’t for the life of me find a brand that’s peanut/nut free. Do you have any brand suggestions or suggestions for what to substitute the flaxseed with? (For example, flaxseed eggs- can I just use a real egg and then bake whatever it is?)
Thank you!!!!!!
Hey Marisa, Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m so happy you’re loving the recipes. I don’t have a sub for flax unfortunately, but you *might* be able to swap with a chia seed egg (pending that you can find that nut-free, of course). You can even find ground chia seed now, or make it yourself in a high speed blender. Chia absorbs more water than flax though so I would suggest cutting down the chia by half or so. Hope this helps!