Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

Ooops! I know… I start back up with the Tuesdays With Dorie challenge after a three month pregnancy hiatus and then miss last week’s challenge. Shame on me! I have a (kinda) good excuse though – I didn’t have enough frying oil to make Dorie’s Mrs. Vogel’s Scherben. They’re fried cookies which I’ll have to make up at another time. However, I’m back this week! This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie baking challenge is Dorie’s Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars, chosen by Lillian of Confectiona’s Realm (who has the recipe within her blog).

I was so happy to make this recipe because it was a perfect way to use some Virginia peanuts my dear friend Eva gave me. I do have to say, the peanuts really made this recipe. I mean, the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter is naturally a winner… but with true Virginia peanuts, it takes the recipe to a whole new level!

Essentially, this dessert is similar to a layered blondie recipe only better. The base has salted peanuts, rolled oats and a touch of cinnamon which offers a nice hint of spice, pairing well with the chocolate fudge layer uses condensed milk, chocolate and even more peanuts. The original recipe calls for raisins… but I’m not a fan of chocolate and raisins so I omitted them. The to top these off, a crumbling of some of the reserved base layer is scatted on top then baked to a golden brown. Heavenly!

I made this recipe a week or so ago so that I could wrap them up for our friends Megan and Matt. I knew how much they loved chocolate and peanut butter so it made a perfect (belated holiday) treat to give them The verdict? They loved them… and so did we. Even my husband who isn’t a fan of chocolate and peanuts together thought they were good enough for seconds, maybe even thirds. And fouths.

Thanks to Lillian for selecting this week’s TWD baking challenge. Please check out Lillian’s blog for the detailed recipe and be sure to take a peek at fellow TWD’s to see how their tart came out!