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WW Recipe of the Day: Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars (aka Oatsies)
Deliciously crunchy oat and peanut butter cookie bars topped with a thin layer of chocolate and chopped nuts. I adapted the recipe from Betty Crocker Cooky Book (affiliate link)
The more time I spend reading and cooking from old cookbooks, the more I understand our current Weight struggles. It’s really as simple as portion sizes.
This recipe for chocolate topped peanut butter oat cookie bars, or “Oatsies”, is a perfect example. Baked in a 9×9-inch pan, the instructions are to cut into 32 bars. Yes, 32 bars!
The same recipe posted right now on AllRecipes has instructions to make 9 bars with 344 calories and 19g fat each! Hello, that’s almost a 400% increase in size!!
Cookies and cookie bars, like these chocolate peanut butter oat cookies used to be little sweet treats, not the gargantuan disks and slabs they have become today! Who knew???
How Many Calories and WW Points in Chocolate Oat Peanut Butter Cookie Bars?
According to my calculations each one of these little chocolate topped peanut butter oat cookie bars has just 77 calories.
To see your WW Points for this recipe, track it in the WW App!
(You must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.)
4 SmartPoints (Green plan)
4 SmartPoints (Blue plan)
4 SmartPoints (Purple plan)
2 PointsPlus (Old plan)
If you like chocolate peanut butter oat cookie bars, be sure to check out some of my other easy, Weight Watchers friendly cookie recipes including No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, WW Sweet & Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cranberry Apple Oatmeal Cookies, Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares
Recipe Notes
I made a few changes to the original “Oatsies” recipe, to lighten it up a bit.
I substituted some of the butter with peanut butter (because I love peanut butter), some of the oats with oat bran, and decreased the amount chocolate and nuts used on top by half.
And they are still delicious. So cute when cut into little bars. They remind me of the little mini bars Weight Watchers sells, only better 🙂
Substitutions for Light Corn Syrup
If you don’t want to use light corn syrup in this recipe, you could try:
- Agave Nectar
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Honey
- Golden Syrup (a pantry staple in the UK)
- Cane Syrup
If you’ve made these Old-Fashioned Oatsies, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup oat bran
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons chopped nuts
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch baking pan with non-stick foil. (If you don’t have non-stick foil, line the pan with plain foil and coat the foil with non-stick spray.
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, oat bran and brown sugar.
- In another bowl, mix together the peanut butter, light corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla and salt until well blended.
- Add the peanut butter mixture to the oat mixture and mix well.
- Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and pat down firmly and evenly.
- Bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Prepare the chocolate topping: While the cookie bars cool, melt the chocolate, either over low heat in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan or in a small microwave safe bowl (affiliate link) in the microwave (affiliate link).(To melt chocolate in the microwave (affiliate link), heat at 50% power for about 30 seconds. Remove and stir. If chocolate is not melted, return and heat at 50% for another 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat, stirring every 30 seconds to avoid scorching the chocolate. When small lumps remain, remove and stir to complete the melting.)
- Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate evenly over the bars and sprinkle with the chopped nuts.
- Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
- When completely cool, cut into 32 bars.
Notes
(Must be logged into WW on a smartphone or tablet.) 4 SmartPoints (Green plan) 4 SmartPoints (Blue plan) 4 SmartPoints (Purple plan) 2 PointsPlus (Old plan) I substituted some of the butter with peanut butter (because I love peanut butter), some of the oats with oat bran, and decreased the amount chocolate and nuts used on top by half. If you don’t want to use light corn syrup in this recipe, you could try:
- Agave Nectar
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Honey
- Golden Syrup (a pantry staple in the UK)
- Cane Syrup
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Source: Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker Cooky Book (affiliate link)
Watch how to make another version of healthy, no-bake chocolate peanut butter oat bars:
This ousnds so yummy and just 2 pts!! I do not use corn syrup. Can I sub honey or something else? Thanks for your help.
Hi sl,
They really are yummy! But the serving size is tiny – like a little WW mini bar, probably 2 bites. I’ve never tried honey so I can’t say for certain, but think it should work. If you do decide to experiment, would love to hear how it turns out.
These sound so good. But 32 out of a 9 in square pan. They are tiny. I am afraid I could not stop at 1.
Hi SL, yes they are little bite-size treats. I know for me part of being successful with Weight Watchers has been learning to be satisfied with small amounts of sweet treats. LOL!!
These look awsome! I have that cook book too! It was my Grandmother’s. I have several of her cook books and I love them. I love reading all the old recipies. You are so right the portions have changed a lot since then. I’m going to try these soon 🙂
These really sound good. They’ll make a great snack to take along to work.
These bars are wonderful – hard to believe they’re only 2 points! My new favorite…