Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut Bars + Video

Whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip walnut bars with a honey glaze. I forgot to add the latter part in the title. Well, I didn't forget. It was just too long to add it in. But I need you to know that it's there. Now we can begin.

Also, please don't be mistaken in thinking that these bars taste healthy and heavy and mealy because of the whole wheat flour. Not at all. I honestly only used whole wheat flour because I think oatmeal cookies and bars taste better with whole wheat flour than with white flour. It's just something about the earthiness and heartiness of oatmeal that I think pairs so well with whole wheat flour. 

Now we can really begin. But wait - before we do, how about watching this video I made for these whole wheat oatmeal bars? Here we are:

Or, watch it on Youtube. 

You'll be hard-pressed to find an oatmeal bar recipe that's as soft and tender as this one. Seriously - these bars are so tender that they almost melt in your mouth and come so close to breaking apart when you lift them. But they don't. They behave really well and hold together like the nice, little bars that they are.

So they're super soft. But also gooey, especially those center bars that you'll be cutting out of your ever-so-slightly under baked logs. 

I almost always prefer using quick oats in my recipes as opposed to rolled/old-fashioned oats. There's something about the texture of rolled oats that throws me off. Quick oats blend into the other ingredients and don't have an awkward, crunchy, un-cooked texture like rolled oats do in recipes.

Now, the chocolate chips. I use chocolate chunks, not chips, when I make these, obviously. I don't mess with chips. They're not as melty and gooey and delicious, so why should I? But you can use chocolate chips if you don't require those extra puddles of melted chocolate in your life.

And the walnuts. Walnuts work well with oatmeal, I think. So I added them. Half a cup of them. Chopped. Crunchy, nutty - a wonderful addition. But if you're a walnut-hater, just skip them. 

There's honey in this recipe, in addition to a little brown sugar. Honey adds so much flavor to recipes, as well as that chewy texture I love to have in my cookies and bars. 

Oh, and also, these oatmeal chocolate chip bars are dairy-free. Just use any oil of your choice (and it doesn't even have to be coconut oil, which I usually use in place of butter for its richness). 

And also, the honey glaze. I wanted to try something new. So I lessened the amount of sugar in this recipe and added a sweet, sticky, glossy honey glaze to be drizzled on top of the bars. It makes the bars handsomer and tastier. WIN.

So, after you make this one-bowl, oatmeal, chocolate chip, walnut dough, you divide it into two and dump the two mixtures onto your baking sheet, forming two logs.

Then you bake the logs and slice them into bars once they're finished baking and cooling. And then you drizzle the glaze on top. And then you feast. 

100% whole wheat. Sweetened with a little brown sugar and a little honey. Flavored with some cinnamon and vanilla extract and salt. 

Soft and tender. Gooey and rich. Flavorful and filling. Chocolaty and nutty. Quick and easy. Dairy-free and one-bowl (excluding the honey glaze). 

Watcha waiting for?

whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip walnut bars

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Yield: about 24 bars

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups quick oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil
1 egg
4 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chunks/chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Honey Glaze (optional):
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Pinch cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
Milk/water, for thinning

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the first six dry ingredients, through salt.

Make a well in the center and add in the oil, egg, honey, and vanilla extract. Mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks and walnuts last.

Divide dough into two and spread into two rectangular logs on the prepared baking sheet. 

Bake bars for about 13-15 minutes, or until the edges of the logs are golden brown and the centers are set. 

Let logs cool before slicing each log into 12 bars and drizzling with honey glaze. 

To make glaze, whisk glaze ingredients together, adding as much milk as necessary to make glaze a pourable consistency (about a tablespoon). Drizzle over cooled bars.