Chewy Oatmeal Blondies

Chewy Oatmeal Blondies - made October 23, 2021 from Paris Loves Pastry 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until just combined. Add flour mixture in two additions, beating on low speed after each addition. Mix in 3/4 cup of oats. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
4. Sprinkle remaining oats, pressing gently to adhere. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

These were good for what they are: an oatmeal blondie, easy to make, easy to package and would survive well in mailing.

That said, I'm not sure I loved them. In fairness, I only ate a sliver so maybe that wasn't enough for a proper taste test. I didn't want to eat a whole piece since I was mailing these off in military care packages and my (jaded) taste buds usually don't need more than a sliver. I taste enough to make sure they turned out and were good enough to send to others.

Which these were. If you want a sturdy, care package bar cookie, these work well. The original recipe called for making these plain but I added chocolate chips for a little extra flavor. I do like the direction in the recipe to sprinkle some of the oats over the bar cookie before baking. That way the oats don't get lost in the batter during baking and you can clearly see what these are: oatmeal bars.