It's been a while since I talked about Revel Bars, but this week we needed a last minute bake sale item and the fudge filled oatmeal bars (Fudge Jumbles) I loved as a kid came to mind. They have a tempting appearance, are easy to cut and wrap, and they taste great. Plus you get the best of both worlds -- oatmeal cookies and fudge!
My Favorite Revel Bars Recipe
There are lots of variations on Revel Bars and Fudge Jumbles. The one I usually use calls for 2 ½ cups of flour, 3 cups of oats a full cup of butter and 2 eggs. The key with this version is not to not accidentally pack in too much flour and to not over-bake. If you have a scale, you can weigh the flour -- 10.5 to 11 oz works for me. Otherwise, just be sure to stir it and aerate it will before measuring.
Fudge Jumbles Size
This recipe gives you lots of bars. For bake sale purposes you might want to cut them very large (you'll get at least 24), but if you are making them for a party or get together, you could easily get 60 small squares. And if you don't need all those squares or want to use your ingredients for another recipe, you can halve this one very easily and use a 9-inch square pan.
As I made this batch I got kind of fixated on Revel Bars and oatmeal bars, so maybe I'll try a few more and let you know if one seems better than the others. Good luck with the recipe, and enjoy this old commercial for Fudge Jumbles.
Recipe
Oatmeal Fudge Revel Bars
Ingredients
Oat Crust:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, 8 oz, salted (230 grams)
- 2 cups tightly packed light brown sugar (400 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups well stirred all-purpose flour (290 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt if using salted butter, decrease to ½ teaspoon
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
Filling:
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14 oz can weighing (392 grams)
- Tiny Pinch of salt omit if using salted butter
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 grams)
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 10x15 inch pan with nonstick foil or line with regular foil and grease the foil.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping sides of bowl often.
- Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to batter gradually, stirring until blended, then stir in the oats.
- Drop about ⅔ of the mixture (30 oz by weight) in globs on the lined pan, then dampen your fingers and press to make a crust. Put the rest of the oat mixture in the refrigerator (this makes it easier to crumble) while you make the fudge filling.
- Fudge Filling: Combine the condensed milk, pinch of salt and butter in a large saucepan and heat over medium just until condensed milk is very hot and butter is melted. Add chocolate chips, then reduce heat to medium low and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Spread filling evenly over crust.
- Crumble reserved oat mixture over the top leaving gaps here and there.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (25 works for me) or until topping is light brown around the edge. Fudge should still seem very soft, but it will set as it cools.
- Allow the bars to cool completely. If you have room in your refrigerator, you may want to chill them a bit for neater slicing.
- Lift from pan, put them on a big cutting board and cut into large squares.
Julie says
I have made your recipe many times and it’s always a big hit! Thank you for sharing it!
Sue says
Meant to give this five stars earlier. Great recipe. The bars went over very well.
Sue says
I made these for a housewarming party and they turned out really great. The recipe is nearly identical to an old one of mine with minor variations in salt and vanilla quantities. The big difference is pan size. My recipe calls for a 9c13 inch pan so the bars are thicker.
I especially like the tip here about chilling the dough while making the filling. In the past I’ve resorted to shaping little flat bits of dough for the final layer. Your method is so much better.
The pan size is great for a party because the yield is greater.
Anna says
Hi Linda,
Thanks for reviewing! If you ever try one of the other versions, let me know!
Linda Sweeting says
These were great. They're perfect if you need a treat for a large group. I used old fashioned oats because that's what I had on hand, and other than the coarser texture, they seemed to work fine. I can see tweaking the crust with peanut butter, and/or the filling with different chips like butterscotch or peanut butter.
Sue says
I was thinking about these recently. It's been a long time since I last made them. Yours look really good.
Linda Sweeting says
Thanks, Anna. Somehow, I've never made these before! I find that, like so many of us, things get so busy that I just can't take the time to bake a batch of individual cookies, so I'm always looking for yummy bar cookies other than traditional brownies and chocolate chip bars. I'll let you know how they come out, and I look forward to seeing variations on this recipe.
Sonya says
Yummy!