Food For Thought

Christmas = gorging on yummy goodies

I was first introduced to the following treats a couple of years ago when my roommate (at the time) Stacey made them for one of her classes. I had a hard time keeping my fingers out of the leftovers! Last week as I was browsing through my Christmas cookbooks, I found the recipe for them. I whipped them up last night for a Christmas party and they were a total hit. The party hostess suggested that I put the recipe on the blog, so here it is:

From: Christmas Cookies (published by Oxmoor House)
Holiday Candy Fudge Bars

2 cups uncooked, quick-cooking oats
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour (I actually used half regular/half whole wheat flour)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups red and green candy-coated chocolate pieces, divided (meaning: M&Ms)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
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Combine first six ingredients, stirring well. Add butter, and stir or beat at low speed with an electric mixer until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1-1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumb mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 350.

Place 1 cup chocolate pieces in a microwave-safe bowl, microwave on HIGH 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, stirring after 30 seconds. Press chocolate pieces with the back of a spoon to mash them. (The candies will almost be melted with pieces of color coating still visible.) Stir in condensed milk. Spread mixture evenly over crust in pan, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides.

Combine reserved crumb mixture and remaining 1/2 cup chocolate pieces; sprinkle evenly over chocolate mixture and press lightly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes or until golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen, depending on the size of your bars ;).

*I'm sorry I don't have a picture of them. I didn't think I would be posting this recipe when I made them, and when my friend suggested that I make the recipe public, the treats were all eaten. I think you may be able to use chocolate chips instead of M&Ms if desired. These are super easy and very yummy! Enjoy!