Have I mentioned that I like to bake?! 😉
I’ll pretty much take any excuse I can get to try out a new dessert. I made a ton of desserts back home, but I feel like I get to make even more now because we’re trying to branch out and meet new people, which means we’ve invited several families over for dessert. I usually try to shy away from trying a new recipe for when guests come just because I have no idea how it will turn out, but thankfully, I have my hubby’s students to try them out for me first. Last week I decided to make some M&M Chocolate Oat Bars, which was a recipe from Betty Crocker, and they were a hit!! Lorin said they were literally gone in minutes when he took them to his students. He insisted I make them again this past Sunday when we had invited another family over, so I did just that, and fortunately, they were a hit yet again.
Because they were so good and pretty easy to make, I’ll be adding them to my “GO-TO Desserts’ List. We also served them with some delicious Blue Bell Ice Cream (yes, we’ve been converted to it since moving to Texas). I’m so happy to find another “bars” recipe that is delicious and can be changed out for any season or occasionally so easily with different types of M&Ms. 😀
For video instructions on how to make these M&M Chocolate Oat Bars, check out the video below:
For printable recipe:
- 1½ cups quick oats
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips
- 2 TB butter softened
- 1 cup M&Ms
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and 1 cup softened butter with a spoon. Remove 1 cup and set aside.
- Press remaining mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.
- In a small pot, melt condensed milk, chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of butter over low-medium heat. Stir constantly until chips are melted and everything is mixed well.
- Pour chocolate chip mixture over the bottom layer and spread evenly. Sprinkle leftover cup of oat mixture over the chocolate.
- Top with M&Ms and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. ENJOY
{Pressing the batter into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan}
{Poured the melted sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips over the bottom layer}
{Topped it off with some more of the bottom oat mixture}
{Then topped it off with some M&Ms}
Seriously – SO good!!
The hubby has already requested it again!!
It is definitely a recipe that needs to be tried… and asap. 😉
As I mentioned earlier, the best part is you can change out the M&Ms so that it matches whichever event or occasion you’ve made it for…
Christmas M&M Chocolate Oat Bars:
Valentine’s Chocolate Oat Bars:
And an Easter version too…
The possibilities are endless!!
For more yummy BAR recipes be sure to check out:
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Oh these look so good Kristyn!
Ha! I love the “behind the scene’s photo”! I feel like we are sisters–that is totally something I would have done. I liked you before, but now I might be in love! Oh, and holy yum, MAKING THIS!
nancy recently posted..Felt and Button Skull Brooches {Halloween Craft}
LOL! Too funny!! So glad there is someone who would have done the same thing and not thought I was absolutely crazy. I had to laugh though cuz I’m sure my hubby’s students were questioning if it was a Christmas, Fall or Regular dessert when he brought them to school the next day – ha!
Hi Lil’ Luna. These look amazing. I have special occasion coming up and I have to bring something. These are perfect. I was wondering if I can substitute milk chocolate chips with semi sweet chocolate chips. Also you say in the recipe one cup of melted butter but ask to blend the soft butter……..Is this butter meant to be melted or just softened. Thank you for your help. I am looking forward to making them….
Lynn
These look quite amazing. I love me some m&ms too.
Kathleen recently posted..Everything but the kitchen sink cookies
The M&Ms are the perfect topping for these oat bars. Hope you like them! 😀
They look really super delicious 🙂
Rebecca recently posted..Spicy Chestnut and Pear mini Pies (or Tartelettes)
And they taste super delicious too!! I promise you’ll love them if you try them. 😀
I made these last night for a get together we had with old high school friends. I’m more of a peanut butter person, so I replaced 1/2 the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips (though normal PB probably would have worked just as well) and instead of M&Ms used Reese’s Pieces. They were a huge hit! The whole pan was gone within the hour. Definitely making these, again. Thanks so much for the fantastic recipe!
So glad you liked them, Erica! Reeses Pieces sounds like a great idea… I think I’ll have to try that next for Lorin. I think all Merkleys like PB. 😉
These look so good! I’d love for you to join the Pinworthy Projects party! http://www.atkinsondrive.com/pinworthy-projects-link-party-12/
Sam M. | Atkinson Drive recently posted..10 Elegant Black & White Halloween Decor Ideas
YUM! These look so good! My mom makes a similar recipe and it is one of my faves!
[email protected] recently posted..Grateful tag (free printable)
This was my first time trying a recipe that had these kinds of ingredients, and it was obviously a hit!! Will need to try out your mom’s recipe one of these days. 🙂
You had me at M&M 😉
Desiree @ The36thAvenue recently posted..25 Halloween Treats and Dessert Recipes
LOL!!! You have to try these, Des – they are SOO good!! 😉
Yummy! Can’t wait to try them!
xoxo
Thanks, Jen!! I think you’ll LOVE them… and so will your kiddos!! XO
These are like the ones I’ve made for years. Love them! In place of step #4 I use 32 unwrapped caramels and 1/2 cup condensed (not sweetened). Melt in heavy sauce pan over low heat till melted. I also add 1 cup chopped nuts on top with the m&ms. Love my caramel and chocolate. 🙂
Oh man – CARAMELS would be amazing!! Will try that next time I’m making these – thanks for the tip!! 😀
I made these this week.
I ADORED them.
As did my husband and five of our children and all of my friends at our co-op where I shared them.
I replaced the m&m’s with chocolate covered sunflower seeds.
These are definitely on my go-to list now as well.
(And I’m sharing your link on my blog this week and sending people to YOU!)
Thank you so much for sharing.
Oh man, I would have never thought to try Chocolate Covered sunflowers seeds. They would be delicious! Thank you so much for the tip. I will try that next time I’m making them. 🙂
Love bars like this! Chewy, with sweet. cond milk, the M&Ms, mmm! Right up my alley & pinned!
Averie @ Averie Cooks recently posted..Carmelitas
Can these be frozen, if I make them ahead of time?
Hi Dawn. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried to freeze them. If you try, let me know, and I’ll be sure to make a note of it so others can know if it does work. 🙂
Great Treat! I’m making these for After School Treats with GF Flour!
Let me know what your kids think. They are one of our FAVORITE treats. 😉
These look amazing. I’m so trying these this week! Your desserts always look so good….and no, you are not crazy–it’s the life of a blogger!
Michelle+Paige recently posted..Got the Blues Gift for College Students with Printable
I cannot wait to make these!! Is it melted butter or softened butter? I see both in different places!
These bars are amazing!!!! The melted butter actually goes in the flour/oatmeal mixture and the 2 Tbsp of butter (doesnt need to be softened) goes in the sweetened cond milk mixture. Yum! I could eat the whole pan!
Hi, these look great! The only quick oats I have are the premade packets of brown sugar maple oatmeal from Quakers. Can I use this as the quick oats?
I would definitely try to buy some. Have never used the oatmeal packet oats and to ensure they turn out I’d use the package of quick oats you get at the store. 😉
….. NO !!! …..
Ok so I am not sure what went wrong here but I made these last night and was so excited because they looked so good, but they were terrible all I could take was flour! I followed recipe exactly as stated.
Hi Lacey. I’m sorry you had problems making this. We’ve made these half a dozen times in the last few months and never had problems, nor have any other readers that I know of so I’m not sure what went wrong. :/
These were a huge hit, but all of my m&ms fell off. Maybe next time I should put them on before the crumb mixture?
I would maybe also trying pushing them in just a bit before sticking them in the oven. 😉
Can i use regular chocolate milk bar instead of chips?
Do you know how big the bag of chocolate chips is that you used? I’m in England and ours are probably a size? I can’t Wait to make these!
hannah – a bag of chips in the US is equiv to approx 2 cups of chips. hope that helps.
Do you know how many ounces in the bag of chocolate chips? I’m in England and would guess our bags are different sizes? can’t wait to make these!
Hannah, a bag of chocolate chips is usually 12 oz. (sometimes 11oz.) in the US. That’s 2 cups of chocolate chips. How big are they in England?
Thanks both! They are only 4oz over here so I’m glad I checked!
Thanks for helping Hannah out!! I hope you can enjoy them in England. 😉
Thanks for the choco-chip info, I was just going to ask about it myself. We don’t really have chocolate chips, as such, here in Finland, but it is easy enough to chop up chocolate bars.
JustHeather recently posted..Celebrating spring
Great looking – planning to make this week…just two questions …
2 sticks of melted butter in the crust? That seems like A LOT
Are the M&M minis or regular size?
I plan to make a 2nd batch w/banana chips replacing the M&Ms… thoughts anyone?
Yes – 2 sticks of butter… never said they were healthy. 😉 You can always try reducing the amount of butter if you don’t want to use that much. Also, I used Regular M&Ms but mini M&Ms work well too. 😉
Hi Kristyn: I have just came across your recipe for m&m chocolate oat bars, they look so yummy, could you please send me back an e-mail telling me if I add 1 cup or 2 cups of chocolate chips, it says in the recipe 1 bag. Thanking you in advance for your reply.
I’ve made these twice now and added about 1.5 cups (400 grams) of choc chips. A bag of chips is typically 12 oz, I believe.
Did you like them?
Yes!! My whole family loves them, and they will be my new school bake sale go-to 🙂
Delicious recipe!! One question – in the ingredients list, it states melted butter. But then in the directions, it states softened butter. I’ve now made it both ways accidentally. With melted butter, it came out great, for sure. I’m waiting for the softened butter batch to cool currently 🙂 Just wondering -thx!!
Thanks for the heads up. Melted butter works, but I usually just use softened butter. I changed the recipe to that. Hope you like them! 😀
In my opinion, they taste the same using either melted or softened butter. But I did find that the oat mixture was more crumbly with the softened butter, which made it easier to sprinkle the reserved part on top. Just delicious!!
Good to know! Glad they were both yummy. 😉
OMG these were so good! My husband who is not a sweets person loved them and requested I make more!! I decided to freeze them to hide them from the kids and the sneaky goobers would just go in and grab them! New family favorite in our household. Going to try skor ones tonight!
YAY!! I LOVE hearing this. It’s one of our favorite treats too and we love switching out the M&Ms for the different holidays. I’ll have to try SKOR next time too – sounds delicious!
I refer to these as “Crack Bars”. They are incredible & so addicting. I don’t have any experience with the drug but I couldn’t resist giving them a funny name that could reference their addictivness. : )
LOL! I admit that it’s hard to eat just one. I find myself cutting off little squares of it all day long. 😉
Forgot my rating.
Wow!! These are sooo good!!
SO glad you like them. They’re definitely one of my “go-to” recipes!! Always a hit with any crowd. 😉
I just made this recipe and it was awesome! I made a couple modifications and used Reese’s Pieces instead.
http://www.theweekdaygourmet.com/reeses-pieces-chocolate-oat-bars/
Oooh – Reese’s Pieces would be a great addition!! So glad you liked it! 😀
I made these for a holiday party last weekend. I knew they would be amazing just by looking at the ingredients…. but they exceeded my expectations! They are SO good! I must say, a little bar goes a looooong way. They make a rich and dense bar. So easy to make, and a new party favorite. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I was excited to make these to bring to my parent’s house tomorrow for a get-together, but unfortunately I have to agree with the person who said that the flour taste was overpowering. I followed the recipe exactly (with exception of using dark chocolate chips) and the end result was a crumbly mess that tasted very flour heavy. M&Ms also did not stick at all despite pushing them into the top before and during baking. Guess I’ll be making a box of Ghiradelli brownies instead. 🙁
I’m sorry you had a problem with these Valerie. We’ve made these countless times and have never had anyone think they flour was overpowering. We also haven’t had problems with the M&Ms sticking. :/
I made these and added a layer of PB on top of the oat before the chocolate, then topped with mini Reese’s Pieces-delicious for a PB fan. I’ve made them both ways, and with the PB layer & M&Ms on top, anyway they are YUMMY!
Oh, those sound delicious!! Thanks for sharing those ideas!
This is the perfect one for upcoming sunday :). Thank you Admin
Yes, or for me..anytime during the week 😉 Thanks and I hope you like them!