First of all, let’s accept that chocolate is a super-food and so that makes it healthy for us! Please ignore the naysayers that try to convince us that there is a negative effect when we add sugar and butter.
My counter attack on that comment is that these delectable gems of mouth and mind-loving fudgy cookies have oatmeal and nuts so I think we are just fine. This recipe uses semi-sweet chocolate so I conclude we will get at least 1/2 of the following benefits.
The benefits of eating chocolate may include:
- Dark chocolate contains a natural substance that creates a sense of euphoria (we know this).
- Dark chocolate contains magnesium that can help alleviate PMS symptoms!
- Dark chocolate contains the same type of antioxidants found in red wine and tea, which have been shown to boost brain activity.
- Chocolate may prevent cholesterol from sticking to your artery walls, reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke.
- The saturated fat in dark chocolate isn’t the same as the artery-clogging stuff in hamburger. It’s a unique variety called stearic acid, much of which gets converted in the body to oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acid.
Lessons learned: Eat dark chocolate but don’t combine it with a hamburger!
Enough of this, let’s get to the most important part of this blog post which is all about these cookies.
If you actually share these cookies, which I don’t advise, people will love you. (Just kidding on the no sharing…. send us some :))
Oatmeal Fudge Cookies
Makes 60 bars (or you can make 31 – 1/2 of the pan cut into 30 pieces and the other half for you alone! :))
1 cup margarine or butter
2½ cups flour
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
1½ cups semisweet chocolate pieces
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
In a mixing bowl beat the 1 cup of margarine or butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Add half of the flour, the brown sugar, eggs, 2 teaspoons of the vanilla and the baking soda beating until combined. Beat in the remaining flour. Stir in the oats.
In a medium saucepan combine chocolate pieces, condensed milk and the 2 tablespoons of margarine or butter. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stir occasionally. Remove from heat and add the chopped nuts and the remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Press two-thirds (about 3½ cups) of the dough mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15- x 10- x 1-inch pan. Spread chocolate mixture over the dough. Using your fingers, dot the remaining mixture over the chocolate. You may need to butter your hands a bit to keep the dough from sticking to them.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned (the chocolate will still look a little moist).
Cool on a wire rack (or get a spoon and start scooping – just don’t burn the roof of your mouth!)
Enjoy!
Very best wishes for a grand and delicious holiday season!
~ Denise
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Sweet Mother of Pearl there is sweetened condensed milk in these lovelies! Milk is good for us too, right?!?!
Good point Sandra, milk IS good for us too. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! Sweet Mother of Pearl! – new fave saying… haha, made me laugh out loud.
~Denise
haha-your post sounds like the arguments my mother used to use when she would let us have chocolate bundt cake for breakfast-happy memories.;)
Love that!
Wow! I am in love with these. I love anything with oats. This really is the first time I have come across a fudge recipe with oats. Has to be delicious. Stopping by from “Motivate Me Monday”. Following you via Bloglovin and Twitter.
Have a great day 🙂
Hello and thank you for your nice comment. We so appreciate you coming by and hope you enjoy these bars as much as I do in that I eat way too many.
Best wishes and thanks for the follows.
OK, then, I will no longer put chocolate on top of my hamburger! These look oh-so-good-must-pin-now!
Haha! Or maybe we should! Thanks Amy
I will totally go with the chocolate is healthy idea! These look wonderful! Thanks for sharing at Share Your Stuff Tuesdays 😉
Good idea! Thanks for coming by and for hosting a wonderful party. All the best ~ D
Thank you for making these and bringing them into the office! YUMMY!!! 🙂
You are welcome! You should make some and bring them to the office. :/
Oh my! These look really good!! =)
Stopping by from “Thursday Favorite Things”!
Thank you Melissa!
These look absolutely scrumptious! Found you at Best of the Weekend Link up 🙂
Hi Cindy. Thank you for the nice comment and for visiting us!
Oh my goodness, I know five grandchildren that will love these!!!! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. ♥
Hi Katie. You are going to share you with grandchildren? haha….. lol, just kidding. Good to see you. 🙂
I have all the ingredients. MAKING tonight. YUM.
Denise – these simply look AWESOME !!
I’d looooove to try this recipe 🙂
Oh, man, Denise! I must bake up a batch of these decadent gems! Happy, happy New Year!!!