Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

cookie-bars

Did you know that Pillsbury has recently come out with a line of gluten free doughs? I recently came across their new line of doughs in the supermarket. I’m so glad that companies like Pillsbury have expanded to the gluten free market and their products are widely available.

Thanks to Pillsbury, I have just had the opportunity to try some of their Chocolate Chip Gluten Free Cookie Dough. I was so excited to try it! I knew that I couldn’t just roll them in to balls and pop them in to the oven. I had to do something fun with this new product.

My favorite kind of cookie is a cookie bar. Something about them just allows for more amazing things to happen. You can layer them. You can stuff them. You can add all sorts of yummy stuff to them. A cookie bar is always the way to go. My favorite cookie is typically an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I knew I had to do some sort of mash-up. That lightbulb moment happened where I decided to make a layered oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bar. Right away, I knew what would go in the middle of the two gluten free cookie doughs. The only option in my mind was caramel. Gooey and creamy caramel. My mouth is watering thinking about it!

I first mixed up my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough. I used gluten free oats along with a gluten free flour blend. I slightly adapted the recipe that is on the Quaker Oats canister.

mixing-the-dough

I pressed the mixture in to a sprayed 9×13 baking pan.

oatmeal-layer

Next, I melted caramel bits along with a few tablespoons of heavy cream. I love the caramel bits because they melt faster than the squares and there is no unwrapping to do.

caramel

I poured the caramel over the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough mixture.

pouring-caramel

Next, I used my cookie dough scoop to spoon out even balls of the Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. I placed them over the caramel.

cookie-balls-pre-baked

I then baked everything at 350 for around 26-27 minutes. I kept my eye on the cookie bars for even browning. The cookie bars couldn’t cool fast enough. I let them cool completely before cutting.

cookie-bars-out-of-the-oven

Holy moly. These cookies bars are amazing. They are the perfect indulgent dessert for a crowd. I hope you enjoy!

**This article is sponsored by Pillsbury. The recipe and content is my own. To check out some other gluten free recipes featuring the line of Pillsbury doughs, go here!


Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars
 
Author:
Recipe type: Drinks
Cuisine: gluten free
Ingredients
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer - slightly adapted from Quaker Oats
  • 1 stick plus 6 Tbsp. softened butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1.5 cups Gluten Free Flour Blend (use one that includes xanthan gum in the ingredients)
  • 1 tsp. gluten free Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp. Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 3 cups Gluten Free oats
  • 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Caramel Layer
  • 1.5 cups Caramel Bits
  • 3 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer
  • 1 tub of Pillsbury Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Layer
  1. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Bean in the eggs and vanilla.
  2. In a smaller bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips and the oats until well incorporated.
  5. Spray a 9x13 pan and press the oatmeal chocolate chip mixture in to the pan.
Caramel and Cookie Layers
  1. Place the caramel bits and the heavy cream in a small sauce pan. Heat the pan to medium-high and stir frequently until well melted.
  2. Once everything is melted and mix well, remove from heat.
  3. Pour the caramel over the oatmeal chocolate chip mixture.
  4. Using a cookie scoop, spoon the chocolate chip cookie dough over the caramel layer.
  5. Bake in oven for around 27 minutes, until the top has an even brown tone.
  6. Cool completely before cutting. The bars will be gooey from the caramel.
  7. Enjoy!

cookie-bars

Meatless Monday: Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

I am horrible about eating breakfast. As I run out the door each morning, I should be grabbing something nutritious. Instead, I start my day with a double dose of iced coffee. That’s it. By lunch time, I’m starving. Once in a blue moon, I will have a bagel.

Of course I do crave a good breakfast. You know the kind. The kind that you get in a diner. Where they serve you a heaping plate of pancakes and the butter is melting down the side. There is a sticky jar of maple syrup waiting to be poured. That or eggs and a big crispy plate of hash browns. I haven’t had a breakfast like that in ages.

That is what was on my mind as I stepped in my sauna-like house this evening. A normal person would turn around and throw the kids in the car and then head to IHOP. Not me, though. I grabbed the flour off the shelf and set out to make some good old flapjacks.

I didn’t want to make the boxed kind, when it’s easy enough to make from scratch. These blueberry oatmeal pancakes were a big hit in this house. Super filling.

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup quick oats
2.5 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1.5 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup blueberries
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Whisk everything together slowly in a large mixing bowl.

Heat a large griddle.

Pour batter on to lightly greased griddle 1/2 cup at a time.

Flip over when side is done.

Serve with more blueberries, butter and maple syrup.

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Rhubarb Crisp

There is a greenmarket in front of my office twice a week. I love checking it out to see what’s in season. When I can, I prefer to buy from them. I love the splashes of color from the stands as I walk out of the subway. It’s a nice change from the shlock vendors that stand in its place during the rest of the week.

For the past few weeks, they’ve had rhubarb stalks on their tables. I’ve never tried rhubarb. Not even in a strawberry-rhubarb pie. I’ve missed out on such a classic American staple. As I walked through the tables yesterday, I eyed the stalks. I asked one of the workers how much I would need. He said 1-2 pounds would be plenty – about 4-5 stalks. A colleague mentioned that rhubarb is great in a crisp. I decided to check it out. Got to try everything once, right?
We love fruit crisps in the summer. They come together easily and use what we have on hand. I wasn’t sure how this one would turn out though. It smelled good while baking, but rhubarb has a mixed reputation. I set aside a small ramekin so that I could try it. I wasn’t disappointed. It has this tangy and tartness to it that is welcome. 

Rhubarb



Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients:
4 large stalks of rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat the oven to 400.
Cut up the rhubarb, slicing it across – around 1/2 inch thick. Sliced Rhubarb

 Mix up the sliced rhubarb with the white sugar and the flour. Place in a buttered baking dish. A 9×9 would work for this.

Sliced up rhubarb

In a separate bowl, using a pastry blender, mix up the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle the crumble over the rhubarb.
Rhubarb Crisp

Bake until the topping is golden brown. The rhubarb should be soft. It should take around 30-35 minutes.

Rhubarb Crisp

Serve while warm – with a nice scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!

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Gluten Free Raspberry Chocolate Jam Bars

In my constant need to use things up, I came across a lovely bottle of raspberry jam in the fridge. It sat open and largely unused. I remember purchasing it with good intentions. Probably at someone’s request. When I asked why it wasn’t used, I was informed that strawberry was the preferred jam flavor. Ah well, I tried. I like raspberries. Why not bake with it.

I decided to test out a gluten free raspberry bar recipe that I had been playing with. I sprinkled on some chocolate chips, since dark chocolate and raspberry always go well together.

Gluten Free Raspberry Jam Bars
Ingredients

1 cup almond meal
1 cup gluten free flour blend
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1.5 sticks of butter, cut up
1 1/2 cups gluten free oats
zest of two lemons
1 1/2 cups raspberry jam

Chocolate Chips (about a handful)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, pulse the almond meal, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, baking soda and butter.

Pulse a few times. Add in the oats and lemon zest and pulse some more. Mixture should be crumbly but stick together a bit.

Butter a 9×13 baking pan.

Press 3/4 of the mixture in to the baking pan to form a crust.

Spread a light layer of the jam over the crust.

Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. Not too many.

Sprinkle the rest of the dough mixture on top of that.

Bake for around 25-30 minutes or until the top has browned a bit.

Let cool for an hour before cutting.

Gluten Free Raspberry Jam Bars

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cooookies! Did someone say cookies?

I took a day off work today to get some appointments out of the way, and then lo and behold, two of those three appointments got cancelled. Doctors get emergencies? Who knew? Anyhow, I had lots of time to kill and no plans.

I got my shabbat shopping and a Target run out of the way and I still felt like I had endless time. I decided to knock out the shabbat desserts. I first made an apple crisp. Easy peasy, right. But then I had leftover flour, brown sugar, and oats. They are useful to have around, but not in the amounts I had. A cup or two here and there. These leftover ingredients screamed cookies to me. I love a good oatmeal cookie. Always, always with chocolate chips and never with raisins. I also had some peanut butter at the bottom of the jar begging to be folded in to the cookie. Voila! The cookie was born!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Pareve)
Ingredients:

1 cup earth balance or butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 cups oats
2 tbsp. coconut milk or regular milk
3/4 cup peanut butter – creamy or nutty would work
1 + bag of chocolate chips (I had a 1/2 cup or so chocolate chips left in a bag begging to be used)

Preheat the oven to 360.

Cream the butter with the sugars until smooth.

Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. Beat some more.

Add the rest of the ingredients slowly, one by one. Mix well with an electric beater or mixer.

Drop by rounded spoonful on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for around 8-9 minutes for yummy chewy cookies.

Enjoy!

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