Oat Fudge Bars. If you’ve ever been in a Starbucks, there is a 99% chance you’ve seen one of these babies behind the glass window. Rich, decadent, with lots of oats and chocolatey goodness? Yes, that would be the Oat Fudge Bar. I wanted to come up with a version that had the same flavors, but something not as rich and therefor better on the waistline. So it was my quest yet again to create an Oat Fudge Bar that was a healthier starbucks copycat. I’m not stranger to healthy Starbucks re-makes. Please check out my other healthified versions of their Pumpkin Scones, Gingerbread Loaf, Cranberry Bliss Bar & Lemon Loaf. Naturally, there are more I’d like to add to the collection. The Oat Fudge Bar most definitely had to be next, as its one of my personal favorites.
I heard through the grapvine that the original version has sweet and condensed milk in the fudge base. Perhaps that’s why the originals are so sweet. I didn’t want any sweet and condensed milk in mine, so I opted for stevia chocolate chips instead! If you don’t have that, you can use your favorite low carb chocolate, or semi sweet chocolate chips.
I attempted another version of these with less butter, and subbed applesauce, but it just wasn’t right. Butter or margarine is the way to go, or it will completely lose the crispness that comes with a crumble style bar.
These are chewy, crumbly and just sweet enough. They’re loaded with oats, so they are pretty filling too. 1 square will definitely satisfy.
I knew I was going to have a hard time not eating numerous servings, so I had a couple, then packaged up the rest in a sealed container and stashed it in the freezer. I recommend keeping these in the fridge as it does contain butter. It would be fine at room temp for a couple days, but it will keep longer if they’re kept in the fridge. That is, if they even last that long 😉
I really hope you enjoy these, and next time Oat Fudge Bars are on the brain, this will be your go-to recipe.
Just in case you’re wondering, by having one of these instead of the Starbucks version, per serving, you’ll be saving yourself 292 calories, 9 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbs and 39 grams of sugar!!!
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup sucanat (or coconut palm sugar, or another raw brown sugar)
- ⅓ cup stevia for baking (I used NuNaturals More Fiber)
- ½ cup butter, softened (for dairy-free use margarine)
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup stevia chocolate chips (or semi sweet chocolate chips)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the softened butter, stevia, sucanat. Mix until fluffy. Then add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add in the oat flour, oats and baking soda and mix until it forms a thick dough.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, or on the stove in a small pot.
- Press half of the oat mixture into an 8x8 square pan or glass dish (oven proof). I used a sheet of plastic wrap to press the dough in the pan as its sticky.
- Once half the dough is pressed in the pan evenly, pour the chocolate over top and spread until even over the top.
- Take the remaining dough, and take blobs of it, press into small disks and put randomly over the chocolate. It should not cover the whole surface, and you'll see chocolate peeking through in spots.
- Put in the oven and bake for approx 22 minutes. The oat crust should get crispy and golden.
- Allow to cool completely, and cut into 16 squares