Oatmeal Trail Mix Cookie Bars

Another day - another cookie bar. There are few things I really, really love in this world. At the top of the list are cookies and bars. Okay, so maybe I’m thinking of another kind of “bar” right now, but it’s just Tuesday of a week that already looks like it will never end. I need something to carry me through! Cookie bars. Enough said.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups oats (quick-cooking)
1 cup trail mix
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11x13” pan with cooking spray, and set it aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients, and set it aside as well.

In a separate bowl, cream together the softened butter and both sugars. Once that is fully incorporated, stir in the eggs and vanilla and mix again.

Slowly add in 1/3 of the dry flour/oat mixture and stir until combined. Repeat with the rest of the flour/oats (adding 1/3 at a time) until all ingredients form a thick batter.

Lastly, stir in the trail mix. I used already prepared trail mix from Trader Joe’s, but feel free to make your own using nuts, raisins, M&M candies, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips, etc.

Spread the batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan and bake it for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.