High Altitude Fudge Nut Bars
These old fashioned fudge nut bars have layers of buttery oatmeal crust and crumble topping, filled with fudgy chocolate ganache and crunchy walnuts.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats (pulsed to a fine texture)
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
Filling
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1-2 tbsp powdered sugar, optional
Instructions
Crust and Crumble
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt.
- Use a small food processor or ninja to finely chop the oats, then add the oats and flour to the butter mixture. Stir into a soft dough.
- Set in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
Filling
- In a bowl, combine the chocolate chips, cream and butter. Warm the mixture in the microwave for about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes on 50% power, then stir until smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla and chopped walnuts. If it's not sweet enough to your taste, add the powdered sugar (I didn't add any additional sugar).
Assembly and Bake
- Press 3/4 of the dough into an even layer in the bottom of the pan.
- Spread the chocolate filling over the dough, then crumble the remaining 1/4 of the dough over the chocolate.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.
- Cool completely, then lift the bars out of the pan by the paper to cut them into squares. Although if preferred, you could serve the bars while they're warm and messy, topped with ice cream.
Notes
Store leftover fudge nut bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
For a double batch, use a 9x13 pan, and bake for approximately the same amount of time.
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