Soft & Chewy "Leftovers" Oatmeal Bars

I bought a box of flavored oatmeal at the market when I couldn’t find the plain ones awhile back and tried one packet. Didn’t like it, so now I had all these packets of super sweet oatmeal. Instead of throwing them in the trash…turn them into oatmeal bars! This was also a great way to use up all the half and quarter bags of dried fruit I had.

The recipe below could be used with any flavor oatmeal and fruit/nut add-ins. If you wanted to make it from plain oatmeal, just add about 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. The flavored ones come sweetened with a little salt anyway, so I didn’t need it for these bars.

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter
• 1 c brown sugar (I used dark brown because it’s what I had on hand)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 6 oatmeal packets (or 3 cups of oatmeal…and since I used a flavor oatmeal, it already has enough salt in it so none for this recipe)
• 1 c dried cranberries
• 1/4 c dried blueberries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Mix in the flour and baking soda.
5. Stir in the oatmeal and dried fruits. (Any leftover fruits, nuts, chocolates, etc. can be added.)
6. Pour and spread into a 9×13 pan. (I lined mine with parchment paper so I could remove and cut the bars easily).
7. Bake for 30 mins and let it cool before cutting.

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