Oatmeal bars

This month's Southern Living featured some oatmeal bar cookie recipes that start with a boxed yellow cake mix. I was intrigued, so I gave one a go - with chocolate and walnuts (instead of pecans). You mix yellow cake mix, melted butter, and oatmeal, and pat it into a baking dish. Then top with chocolate chips and nuts. Then more of the cake mix/oatmeal. Then bake. It couldn't have been simpler.


The results were mixed. It tasted good, which is of course important. But I think if I were to make them again, I'd either mix the chocolate chips and nuts in with the oatmeal/cake mix mixture or else make a thin topping of chocolate and nuts, because the "filling" method led to a complete lack of cohesion between the bottom and the top of the bar cookie. As you can see, they are fragile, crumbly, and don't cut very easily. Maybe it was user error. But I would recommend for a fast treat, they are v. easy, easy cleanup, and tasty.