Oat Fudge Bars (Healthier Starbucks Copycat)
Try this Oat Fudge Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Oat Fudge Bars recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup sucanat (or coconut palm sugar or another raw brown sugar)
- 1/3 up stevia for baking (i used nunaturals more fiber)
- 1/2 cup butter softened (for dairy-free use margarine)
- 1/2 cup stevia chocolate chips (or semi sweet chocolate ch
- Carbohydrate 8.047171875 g
- Cholesterol 15.2515625 mg
- Fat 6.722294375 g
- Fiber 0.966312519311905 g
- Protein 1.752294375 g
- Saturated Fat 3.812614375 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (19g)
- Sodium 42.5055625 mg
- Sugar 7.0808593556881 g
- Trans Fat 0.552296625000001 g
- Calories 99 calories
Step-by-step
- 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
When working within the physical constraints of an eight-inch square baking dish, managing sticky dough requires specific handling methods rather than brute force. Pressing high-fiber oat flour and rolled oats into a compact layer benefits immensely from a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly over the surface, which prevents the dough from clinging to bare fingers while allowing smooth, even distribution. Creaming softened butter with raw brown sugar and granulated sweeteners incorporates microscopic air pockets that expand slightly upon exposure to heat, providing just enough lift alongside baking soda to keep the base from turning into an impenetrable brick.
Melting chocolate chips demands gentle, controlled heat to preserve cocoa butter crystals and prevent scorching, making short thirty-second intervals in the microwave or a low double boiler essential. Spreading this melted layer evenly over the bottom crust creates a moisture barrier, while dotting flattened disks of the remaining dough randomly across the top exposes strategic patches of chocolate to circulating oven currents. Baking this assembly at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately twenty-two minutes ensures the edges achieve a deeply golden crispness without overcooking the molten interior.
Pairing these dense, sweet bars requires beverages with significant acidity or bitterness to cut through the richness of the butter and chocolate. Unsweetened black filter coffee or a strong dark roast espresso provides a sharp structural contrast that cleanses the palate between rich bites, while a tall glass of cold unsweetened almond milk offers a nutty complement to the toasted oats. Avoid overly sweet accompanying drinks, as they quickly overwhelm the subtle toasted flavors inherent in whole grain oat flour.
Using fresh, high-moisture organic butter yields a noticeably superior crumb compared to heavily processed or older margarine substitutes that contain excess water. Fresh fats melt uniformly at baking temperatures, whereas preserved or low-fat spreads can separate and cause the oat crust to bake unevenly or become greasy.
