This has been a bit of an odd winter for us, with abnormally warm temps that suddenly dip into the very low double-digits. I find that with the swing in temps, my cooking/baking as well as eating habits have been jumping all over the place, too. So when the weather turned cold this weekend, I took it as an excuse to bake up something hearty. I turned to my "to-try" list and decided to make a batch of Revel bars.
I never had these cookie bars growing up and I don't know exactly how the name, Revel Bars, came about but I have to assume it's to assure us that we will be very happy eating them. My knowledge of them comes from having seen them on blogs (including this delectable peanut butter version from Tricia at Saving Room for Dessert, which I would have gladly made if my fellas are as into peanut butter desserts as I've become). The bars always look drool-worthy and I've had them on my "to-bake" list for some time...
And how could they not be drool-worthy when Revel Bars are basically oatmeal bar cookies with a chocolate fudge-like center!
You make a relatively basic oatmeal cookie dough, press two-thirds of it into a baking pan for the base, then make a simple chocolate fudge layer by melting sweetened condensed milk with chocolate chips and butter. The fudge gets spread over the cookie base and then you dollop the remaining oatmeal cookie dough on the surface before baking it altogether for about 25 minutes.
I suggest starting these early in the morning because you need to allow time for cooling. The cookie bar needs to cool completely in the pan so the fudge layer sets up and the bars are easy to slice. When they're finally ready, I think you will revel in these as much as we did.
The cookie bars may be rich but they aren't achingly sweet. I adore the texture - the oatmeal cookie portion is chewy while the fudgy layer adds an extra dimension of richness, creaminess, as well as chewiness of its own. These are fudge oatmeal cookies in bar form and great for a crowd, for sharing in general.
There's something about bar cookies/desserts...somehow, they're almost always good and generally rich. These Revel bars were aptly named and were a hit with us and friends we shared them with!
