I am so excited to post this recipe; it has quickly become one of our favorite bar cookies, OK, MY favorite! A traditional Oatmeal Fudge Bar recipe has lots of butter, eggs and sometimes milk in it. My version has none of that, but it tastes like it should. It’s rich, fudgy, chewy and full of oats and chocolate.
As many of you know, I love recipes that my kids can make by themselves in the kitchen with just a little help from me. I’m all about tactile activities, and this one is perfect to do with kids of all ages. You don’t even really need a mixer to stir the oatmeal mixture. Simply stir together using the back of a wooden spoon. Use your fingers to press the dough into the prepared glass dish, and spread the fudge layer with your hands too if you wish. This dish signifies everything I love about baking in the kitchen with my kids because it is literally a hands on project that yields deliciously kid friendly results.
As a side note, I have to apologize for not posting as often lately. Between baby Michael’s crazy schedule and all my other kids schedules things have been super nutty (no pun intended!). It seems that every time I get online I have to get off for one reason or another. But I want you to know HOW MUCH I appreciate all your super sweet, thoughtful and touching comments. Many times I have been moved to tears through your kindness and support. I LOVE hearing how much you and your families are enjoying the recipes…it means a lot to me. I get great joy out of creating new delicious recipes that you can bake in the kitchen with your kids and for your kids. Our food allergic kiddos deserve the world, and it is awesome that they are enjoying all these childhood favorite treats. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And now that I think Michael is finally turning a corner and becoming less fussy I hope to post more like my usual schedule. Update on Michael; he has terrible, and I mean terrible, eczema. In fact, looking at him I am reminded of those early months when John was a baby. The dry, scaly head and face, excessive scratching and peeling. It’s terrible. We’re going to the doctor tomorrow. But I am convinced he has some sort of allergy too, just like John, There are so many similarities. I’ll keep you posted on that.
In the meantime Happy Baking Everyone!!
DAIRY, EGG AND NUT FREE OATMEAL FUDGE BARS
OATMEAL LAYER
1/2 c. dairy free shortening
1 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. old fashioned or quick cooking oats (I prefer old fashioned but use whatever you have)
FUDGE LAYER
1/2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 dairy free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life or Divvies)
4 T. dairy free margarine (I use Fleischmans)
1 T. water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8 inch glass Pyrex baking dish with dairy free baking spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a medium bowl with a wooden spoon) combine the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add applesauce and vanilla and thoroughly combine. In a small separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Add to shortening mixture and stir well. Stir in oats. Reserve 1 cup of oatmeal mixture for topping. Spread the rest into the prepared glass dish using the back of a spoon or your fingers. Set aside.
Make Fudge Layer: In a microwave safe bowl combine the chocolate chips and dairy free margarine. Heat in the microwave 20 seconds at a time until the chips are just melted. Add 1 T. water and stir with a rubber spatula until combined. In a small bowl combine the 1/2 c. flour and 1/4 c. sugar with a wire whisk. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Spread the fudge layer over the oatmeal layer. Sprinkle top with the reserved oatmeal mixture and spread with the back of a spoon or your fingers. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
These looks so yummy! I am making the chocolate banana bread right now and had to make sure I had the ingredients correct and I saw the picture of the bars- oh my gosh- YUMMY!!!! I cannot wait to try them- my allergic son will love them!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I get so excited every time I try one- we have not been disappointed a single time!!!
And I so sympathize with your little baby! Poor guy. My oldest, now 3 and the one with allergies, had terrible, terrible eczema and the worst scalp you have ever seen! He was miserable for the longest time. I pray things improve for you and your baby. Since you’ve been down this road before, I am sure you know all the treatments. What worked for us (besides diet change for me since I was breastfeeding) was California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash, Desonate steroid gel (1/2%-Rx only) and Cerave lotion (multiple times per day). If things are rough with the baby, things are definitely rough on the mommy! And you have your hands for! So, I am praying rest and relaxation for you as well- he is a beautiful baby!!!
These look yummy!!!! I can’t wait to make them — we’ll probably make them tomorrow!
We are going thru the same skin issues with my 2 yr old. He is allergic to milk & eggs. We have been avoiding them, but he has been breaking out in terrible hives all over his body. We took him to the allergic and she did a ton of blood tests and everything came back negative. We are giving him Benadryl every 4 hrs and waiting for our dermatologist appt. next week. Has anyone else gone thru this?? We have tried everything…California Baby Shampoo, Tide free soap for clothes,only organic food, etc. We are even ripping up his carpeting this week and putting hardwood floors in his bedroom. I don’t know what else to do — any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I hope all goes well with baby Michael — hope he doesn’t have any allergies!
Laurie
Kelly,
I’m thinking about you and Michael and wishing him the very best! I can vouch that I never thought my 9 year old with peanut, tree nut, milk and egg allergy (we think he’s just grown out of soy, but he’s scared of the blood test) would out grow his eczema, but now he just get’s a tiny spots every now and again on his hands and behind his ears. I look at baby pics of him and my heart breaks, but he’s fine now and I like to believe stronger for it! We used Betamethasone, ProTopic and Hydrocrotisone. I also stand behind all Aveeno baby products! He still only washes with Baby Dove!!
My thoughts are with you girls!!!
I wanted to thank you so much for you website and recipes. I recently found it through another blog and I’m so thankful because my son is allergic to milk, and peanuts and also had terrible eczema when he was a baby. I also wanted to pass on some information my doctor recommended. I’m sure you have probably already heard this, but Baby Aveeno products worked wonders for us. We used the fragrance free baby lotion and oatmeal bath as well as Head and Shoulders shampoo/ conditioner everyday and it made such a huge difference. My father who has also had terrible eczema his whole life has switched from his prescription medication to using Aveeno everyday and he has seen a huge difference too. Anyways I hope that helps, good luck!
With regards to Laurie F 2 year old.
Has he been tested for dustmites?. For my son I put all his soft toys in the washing machine regularly and all his clothes and sheets through hot washes. He also has special covers on his mattress and pillow.
We found he is sensitive to cleaning products so only use products from our local organic store (this is in New Zealand) for his clothing/sheets and bath……anything that his skin touches.
Thanks for another great recipe! It’s so nice to not have to create these on our own as we don’t have the time (though it doesn’t sound like you do either)! Baby Michael is adorable and obviously sounds like he has food allergies too. Our daughter is allergic to eggs and dairy and we are avoiding soy at this time too. She was so incredibly fussy for the first 8 months, until we discovered her allergies. If you look at her baby pictures she has scratches all over her face and head from itching even with keeping her nails short! Our second child is due in June and we are hoping for clear skin and no allergies. Though at least this time we’ll know what to do! Good luck!
Kelly, I can’t wait to make these bars! I love love love oatmeal bars! These look wonderful!
I have been thinking of you. . .so sorry you are going down the eczema road again. . .it is such a challenge!!! Keep us posted on your findings, you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Love, Jen
Excema is such a challenge! It’s hard to firgure out the reason behind it sometimes. We have had wonderful resutls from the da Balm! ointment on this site. I use it on my daughter and my husband(he still has excema even at his age).
http://www.sarah-noelle.com/
The bars look yummy!
Linda
These look amazing – can’t wait to try them!
I’ll be thinking good thoughts for you and your little one – I hope you determine what’s making him uncomfortable. Hopefully it’s not a food allergy. Poor thing – Bella had a milk allergy as a baby and was miserable. I thought she was just a splotchy kid – if I had known then what I know now!
Well isn’t he just too cute for words. Can’t wait to try this new recipe. I just got done making your chocolate chip cookies which have become our official “cookie jar cookie” and I make them almost weekly.
This recipe looks wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with us.
Best wish with your baby. I remember the eczema with my son. I hope all turns out well for him and your family!
Kelly-Truly you are an inspiration! Thank you for making easy recipes that taste great and are okay for the whole family!
My son is allergic to milk and peanuts and he’s had eczema since he was born. We went through just about every soap on the market (including the Aveeno products) but the only thing that helps is something called Vanicream. It’s not a prescription but you can only get it through your pharmacy. If your pharmacy doesn’t have it, they can order it. It comes in a soap as well as lotion…get both. It’s the only thing I’ve used on my son since he was about 6 months old. He still has some eczema every once in a while that we use a prescription for but he’s never had it all over like he did before I started using the Vanicream.
omg THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for all these awesome ideas and well wishes. It’s amazing to me how many of us have experienced the severe eczema too. At Michael’s two month visit today, the doctor recommended I have him see a dermatologist. But I think we’ll do John’s allergist instead (or both.) My 3 1/2 year old David has had recent flare ups of eczema too that has turned into full blow all body rashes lately…and I know he’s for sure allergic to dustmites. I will keep you all posted on this for sure…and let me know how ya’ll like the bars!!
Isn’t the food blogging community great? Seriously, I think we have one of the most lovely group of people out there on our side. It is so nice.
Best of luck with your baby and just life in general! I totally understand how sometimes, it is just so tough to keep up.
What a cutie!!!!!!
I hope that the allergist has some clues for helping with the eczema.
These look heavenly. My daughter & I are about to bake some of your delicious banana bread, and I can’t wait to make these – YUM!
He is adorable!! I hope you help minimize his eczema. My son had it terribly – so bad that he looked like he had bad burns on his body. The only thing that came close to working – and we tried EVERYTHING – was the really, really thick Eucerin cream that comes in a tub, not a bottle. It didn’t make it go away but it definitely helped a lot.
Those look and sound amazing! I can’t believe you’re finding the time to post at all with a newborn. (He is just beautiful, rashy skin or not!) My baking is backlogged, but these bars just made the list!
These look good and fun to cook. As an adult with lactose intolerance and egg sensitivity, I am very thankful for your blog. You explain the recipes, and living with food issues, in wonderful ways. Thanks.
These are cooling as I type this. They look and smell delicious- I can’t wait to try them! Instead of the margarine, I used coconut oil and it seems to be a good substitute if you can’t or don’t want to do margarine. I also used whole wheat flour, we’ll see how that works! I hope you can get some relief for your little guy- he is so adorable!
For all you guys with excema issues, my son Franklin had terrible skin until we went to our allergist for the first time. She recommended a ‘bleach’ bath twice a week and using cetaphil anit-bacterial soap with cetaphil tub moustrizer every night. The bleach bath is just a 1/4 cup of blech in a bath tub and we let him soak for 10 minutes and then poured a new bath and gave him a normal bath. It seems crazy, but his skin has improved tenfold. It has been kinda amazing. If anyone is in Chicago, I would highly recommend my allergist, she is amazing and the first doctor who listened to me about my son’s skin problems. Her name is Dr. Newhall at Chicago Family Asthma and Allergy.
Thanks for the site Food Allergy Momma, it makes me feel like I am not alone.
Great advice Tracy!! Thanks so much! And Marla you’ll have to let me know how they tasted!!
Made these Oatmeal Fudge Bars for dessert last night and my husband and daughter the two chocolate lovers in the house said they are excellent. The baker in the house (me) thought they tasted great and were SO EASY. Thanks.
Holy freaking cow, these look SO good! I know what I’m making today! =D
Kelly – I can’t thank you enough for the information you provide. I have an almost-two year old with allergies to egg, dairy, nuts and sesame. We are hopeful that he’ll outgrow some of them, but in the meantime, the information you provide has helped me so much. We live in Northbrook and I just had my second baby in February. His scalp and face are pretty bad too and I just saw my ped for his two month appointment. She says that it’s just bad cradle cap so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks so whomever posted about liking Dr. Newhall; we are trying a new allergist at the end of the month – her name is Rachel Storey and she’s at Children’s. If anyone knows anything about her – or would recommend their allergist – please email me at dibeerman@hotmail.com. Thanks!
Thanks so much everyone!!! Liz, thanks a million for the feedback. So excited you are all enjoying these. Everytime I look at that picture I am dying to make them again! DB, thanks for your comment and congrats on your own Feb. baby!! I had mine Feb. 11th. I recall hearing great things at Rachel and am thinking I may have even met her at some point. I have met Dr. Newhall before, HIGHLY recommend her. She has spoken at previous MOCHA meetings and is very knowledgable AND understanding to parent concerns and patient needs. She is fabulous and if I didn’t love my own allergiest so much, would go to her in a heartbeat.
Yum, yum, yum! We loved these bars! I even took some on my non food-allergic child’s field trip and had several mom’s ask me for the recipe. Such a great way to educate others, while enjoying a fantastic treat. Thanks Kelly!
I made these a couple of days ago and just love them! My egg and milk allergic daughter likes them as well. Thanks for all your great recipes!
i have 3 kids (5,3, and 1 yr.) with dairy, egg and nut allergies and they all loved these bars. they were easy to make and the bigger kids had a great time helping. we shared them with 5 other moms and 8 other kids without allergies and they couldn’t believe there were “allergy friendly”. i sent the moms home with the recipe and told them about your website. thank you kelly for all of these wonderful recipes!
Thanks so much Sheri, Kathleen and Nancy!! How awesome that the non allergic kiddos and moms loved these too. Honestly, they are addictive and I just made ANOTHER batch the other day. I love that they are so easy and fast to make, and taste amazing. Thanks again!!
My whole family LOVED these!! Even those of us on a non-restricted diet thought they were delicious!! I will be making these often- in fact, I plan to make them again next week when I host playgroup. They are SO GOOD!
These were super yummy! My (5-year-old) son helped me make them. He doesn’t like applesauce. “Uh-oh, he won’t eat these now that he saw applesauce is in them!” He was hesitate at first to taste the batter, but he did, and loved it! I almost didn’t have enough batter left over for the topping because he kept eating it raw. He loved it! That is probably the thing I liked best about your recipes – eating the raw batter!
Thanks for another great recipe!!
Another AMAZING recipe!
I used butter instead of margarine and regular chocolate chips as we only avoid eggs.
Thanks for bringing dessert back into our lives!
These look fantastic! I can’t wait to try them! My 3 y/o son who is egg and nut allergic will love these!
I hope you get some answers for little Michael! He sounds just like my little Nicolas who is now 6 months old. He has had terrible eczema since he was about a month old, and is still battling it. I took him in to our allergist at 3 months to have him tested for the foods, and he’s negative for everything right now. She did say that being so young, it could change in a matter of months, but for now we are seeing a dermatologist to treat the eczema. He has it everywhere from head to toe and scratches his head constantly. I sympathize and hope sweet Michael has relief soon!
He’s so cute! I hope the allergist is able to help.
YUM!!!!! My daughter & I just made them. Delicious. Thanks!
These look…and sound AMAZING!!! Can’t wait to try them! Your baby is adorable!! I love the onsie!!
These are going to be my new favorite – I could tell from the bites of oatmeal batter & fudge batter I sampled
The finished bars remind me of wheat germ chocolate chip cookies from my favorite San Fran bakery. I’ve tried lots of recipes to duplicate & this one comes closest! THANK YOU THANK YOU! Hope baby Michael’s eczema clears up soon! (I do NOT miss those days – we were able to use Ca Baby sensitive soap & Vanicream Lite Lotion.)
Thanks for this wonderful and yummy recipe.
Kelly! I’ve made these twice already!! Once for our family–we have two with food allergies–and once for a picnic! Everyone LOVED them! And it was the first time that no one asked how they were “different” from regular dessert. They’re so good they don’t even get questioned. Thanks so much for your blog and recipes. Lovin’ them both.
mmmm … i need to provide snacks this week at church – looks like this might be a winner … can i ask a quick and maybe naive question – is dairy free shortening the same as dairy free marg? we don’t really do shortening in australia (i don’t think) and i’ve only just moved to the US a month ago so if you could let me know a brand name that would be fantastic – i seem to have to do three separate shops each week to get the different allergy friendly products for my little princess … i had just been getting good at knowing which brands and products were ok for her in Australia and now the fun begins all over again … it’s ok tho – I don’t mind a spell of grocery shopping provided the girls comply … I hope the excema clears up soon … all the best
I’ve made these twice already for my daughter and she was asking me again today for “oatmeal fudge”. So, I guess back to the kitchen I go!
Kelly, you and your website have truly been a godsend for my daughter. It’s so great to be able to bake things for her that she and non-allergic people love as well!
Thanks so much!
I just made these and they are to die for! My husband said “These may not last through the end of the day”. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Just baked these for the first time last night, amazing! Everyone in our home loved them. I don’t know what tastes better, the oatmeal layer or the fudge layer. Thanks for the great site!
Just wondering. . . no troubles with trace amounts of milk?? Fleishmann’s only just cleans their lines; their lines are not dedicated. Does anyone use a spread that is dedicated? I recently lost mine . . . earth Balance. My daughter is allergic to “clean” lines, as well.
Thanks
I just made these today for a family get-together and they were a HUGE hit! My sister and I couldn’t stop eating them! This was my first time using the dairy free chocolate chips and I am very impressed! I will definitely be making these again!!
Bronya – I don’t know if you got an answer to your question, so I thought I’d throw my two cents in. Shortening is different than margarine. You can usually find it in the baking aisle next to the cooking sprays. Crisco is a popular brand. Other brands are Earth Balance shortening and Spectrum Organic shortening (I stole these from Kelly’s book as I’ve never used them myself.) Kelly’s book is a very nice guide to help you learn the brands here that would be OK for your daughter. She lists and explains all the ingredients in her book that she uses in her recipes. Good luck to you!
Made these last night and they were REALLY tasty! I did make one change: I substituted soy milk for the tablespoon of water, since so many “experts” say you should never mix water with chocolate. People with soy allergies could use oat milk instead. Of course, this video debunks the whole notion of mixing water and chocolate anyway, so maybe I should have just used water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g28-9NVUHj0