WW Recipe of the Day: Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars (aka Oatsies)
Deliciously crunchy peanut butter oat cookie bars topped with a thin layer of chocolate and chopped nuts. I adapted the recipe from Betty Crocker Cooky Book (affiliate link)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars (aka Oatsies)
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 9x9-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! Hello, that's almost a 400% increase in size!!
Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars
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???
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 🙂
How Many Calories and WW Points in these Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars?
According to my calculations each one of these little chocolate topped peanut butter oat cookie bars has just 77 calories and:
4 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
4 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
2 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
If you like these 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
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
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Chocolate-Topped Peanut Butter Oat Cookie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup oat bran
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ 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 in the microwave.(To melt chocolate in the microwave, 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.
Recipe Notes
- Agave Nectar
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Honey
- Golden Syrup (a pantry staple in the UK)
- Cane Syrup
Source: Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker Cooky Book (affiliate link)
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
Watch how to make another version of healthy, no-bake chocolate peanut butter oat bars:
If you liked these peanut butter oat cookie bars you might also like
- 4-Ingredient Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Low-Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookies with Salted Peanuts
- Skinny Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars
- Caramel Oatmeal Chocolate Mini Bars
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Pam Dorman
These bars are wonderful - hard to believe they're only 2 points! My new favorite...
Mireya Merritt
These really sound good. They'll make a great snack to take along to work.
Dorinda
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 🙂
sl
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.
Martha McKinnon
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!!
sl
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.
Martha McKinnon
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.