Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch Bars
This recipe creates delicious layered bar cookies featuring a buttery oatmeal and butterscotch chip crumble base and top, sandwiching a smooth cream cheese filling infused with lemon and vanilla. The bars are baked, cooled, chilled, and then cut into squares.
Equipment
- 1 9x13 inch Baking Pan For baking the bars
- 1 Food Processor For making the crumble mixture
- 1 Electric Mixer Stand or hand mixer for the cream cheese filling
- 1 Sharp Knife For cutting the cooled bars
- 1 Aluminum Foil To create a sling for easy removal
Ingredients
Main
- 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pea-sized pieces, plus more for pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 11-ounce bag butterscotch chips
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Drape a 9 by 13-inch pan with overlapping pieces of aluminum foil, creating handles for easy removal. Butter the paper, and reserve.
- In a food processor add the flour, oats and brown sugar and pulse to combine. Add the 2 sticks of butter, the cinnamon and the butterscotch chips. Pulse, pulse, pulse until the mixture forms clumps when pressed between your fingers. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer, reserve the other half. Bake in the preheated oven just until slightly golden and set, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Beat together the cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon zest and juice and vanilla in an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle, or with an electric hand mixer until no lumps of cream cheese remain. Spread evenly over the baked and cooled oatmeal mixture. Sprinkle the remaining half of the oatmeal mixture over the cream cheese. Bake until the top is golden, about 40 minutes.
- Cool and chill before cutting. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and using the foil handles, transfer the bars to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares with a sharp knife and serve.
- Call yourself a superstar!!!
- Cook's Note: For a delicious and healthy variation of this recipe, try replacing the butterscotch chips with tasty dried cranberries.
Notes
Ensure butter and cream cheese are at room temperature for smooth incorporation into their respective mixtures. When making the crumble in the food processor, pulse just until large crumbs or small clumps form; avoid over-processing into a paste. Bake the base layer only until slightly golden and set, as it will bake again with the filling. Cooling and chilling the finished bars completely before cutting is crucial for clean, well-defined squares. The foil sling is highly recommended for effortless pan removal.