Chewy chocolate, oat and raisin cookie bars

Is it a cake? Is it a cookie? Well it’s a chewy cookie bar. The couple who live across the road from us have just had a baby girl so we decided now was time to make friends. We popped over on Thursday afternoon and I decided it would be good to take a baked offering with us. I thought these cookie bars would be good as they have oats for energy and milk production, chocolate because when you’re sleep deprived chocolate is very necessary and raisins to make you feel like you’re having something healthy!

This is a recipe from The Little Loaf Blog. I also have the cookbook from the same writer called Homemade Memories. The great thing about this recipe is that it only requires one bowl and can mixed and cooked in just over half an hour. This recipe will make 16 portions and will keep for several days in an airtight container. You’ll need a 23cm square tin.

Ingredients:
160g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
115g unsalted butter (room temperature)
200g light brown sugar
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
90g raisins
120g rolled oats
225g milk chocolate chips

Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 180ºC.
2) Lightly butter your 23cm square pan and line the base with baking parchment.
3) In a small bowl, mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt.
4) Using an electric hand whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high-speed until light and fluffy (which will take about 3 minutes). Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk until smooth. (At this point the mixture may look curdled but keep whisking, give it a few energetic stirs and it should come back together. It may still look a bit separated after, but don’t worry!)