High Altitude Oatmeal Cream Pie Cookie Bars
Moist and chewy oatmeal bars made with browned butter and a hint of spice, iced with vanilla icing and sprinkled with candied ginger.
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
Cookie Bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp light "original" molasses
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- ⅛ tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ - 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
Instructions
Cookie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line the pan with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling occasionally, until the water evaporates, the butter starts to foam and it forms fragrant, nutty, golden brown solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and immediately pour the hot butter into a bowl, scraping all the golden browned bits off the bottom of the saucepan with a spatula.
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the hot browned butter and whisk for 1 minute. Then add the eggs, molasses and vanilla, and whisk for one minute.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt, until evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and use a spatula to stir into a thick batter, just until the flour is incorporated.
- Spread the batter evenly into a prepared pan. Bake the bars for about 35 minutes (for an 8 inch pan) and 30 minutes (for a 9 inch pan). The bars will be slightly puffed and a deep golden brown color.
- As the cookie bars cool, it's normal for the center of the bars to settle and sink back down while the edges stay raised. So while the bars are hot, I like to gently press the edges down with the bottom of a spatula, so that the bars are an even thickness all the way across as they cool.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack to cool for about an hour, before adding the icing.
Icing
- Stir together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, ground ginger, vanilla bean paste and milk until smooth and drizzly. Spread the icing in a thin, even layer over the cookie bars. Before the icing sets and crusts over, sprinkle the chopped candied ginger on top.Baker's Note: This makes a thin layer of icing, so as not to make the bars excessively sweet. For a thicker, more opaque layer of icing on top, increase the icing by 1 1/2 x.
- Let cool for at least 1-2 more hours, until the bars are cooled and the icing is set, before cutting into squares.
Notes
Store the leftover bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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