These simple bar cookies are pure magic.
It's a vintage recipe that's as simple and uncomplicated as childhood. Sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy goodness that's ready in minutes. They travel well for bake sales, potlucks, and picnics, too!
📋 Ingredients
This recipe is made without corn syrup. I've seen many that call for it but this is the one I grew up with. I hope you love it as much as I do.
- Old fashioned or quick oats are fine - just don't use instant oatmeal. It won't work!!
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar- either golden or dark is fine. It's up to your tastes.
- Butter
- Peanut butter - creamy or chunky - just remember if you use chunky it will give the chocolate topping a lot of texture.
- Chocolate chips - milk chocolate, bittersweet, dark... it's your choice! You could even use white chocolate.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven. Grease pan. Mix oats, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl.
- Mix well.
- Pour in melted butter.
- Stir until the entire mixture is moistened with the butter.
- Press into pan firmly.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool completely.
- Melt chocolate and peanut butter together.
- Stir until completely smooth.
- Spread over cooled cookie base. Chill.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: If there are allergies to peanuts use almond butter or sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter.
- Make sure you break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Be sure NOT to use instant oatmeal (the kind in the packets).
- Oh Henry bars can be made ahead, covered, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or freeze them for up to a month. Thaw before serving.
- Double check your products for gluten but these are, as far as I know, gluten free.
- Try butterscotch or white chocolate chips in place of the chocolate.
🎥 Video
Just click on the image below if you'd like to see the full length video on YouTube. It opens in a new tab so you won't lose your place here.
🍽 Equipment
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When you show up at the next church potluck with these homemade bars stacked inside this retro carrier you're going to feel just like Mrs. Cleaver... or Aunt Bee. Hey, party like it's 1965, right?
What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness! Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!
☕ Kaffeeklatsch
I have my mother's old Better Homes and Garden's cookbook, circa 1939... or something like that. It's crazy old.
It's got a lot of vintage recipes, the stuff I grew up on, but there is something I like better. Stuffed in the pages is a treasure trove of papers that Mom cut, collected, and procured for seven decades.
There are recipes that were my grandmother's, aunts', and ancestors unknown. There are recipes from brands that no longer exist and brands that are still around.
Memories. Memories with all of them.
This recipe for Oh Henry Bars with oatmeal is in there, faded, stained, and kind of frazzled looking but its appearance attests to the popularity of the recipe.
Vintage recipes have a way of bringing back our memories with each nibble. I love making the dishes that I loved as a child and sharing them, along with the memories that go with them, with my kids and grandkids.
Things that no one makes anymore like Butterscotch Buckaroons and Peanut Butter Molasses cookies are flavors that are going to be forgotten and gone forever soon - and that would be a shame, don't you think?
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Oh Henry Bars
Equipment Needed
- 13x9-inch pan
Ingredients
- 4 cups oats, Old fashioned or quick
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 6 ounces chocolate chips
- 1 cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease 13" x 9 ” pan.
- Mix oats, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl.
- Pour melted butter over and mix well.
- Press into pan firmly and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
- Cool.
- Melt chocolate and peanut butter together stirring to blend.
- Spread over cooled cookie base.
- Chill 1 hour…IF you can wait that long.
- Cut into 2 dozen bars.
Notes
- Make sure you break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Be sure NOT to use instant oatmeal (the kind in the packets).
- Oh Henry bars can be made ahead, covered, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or freeze them for up to a month. Thaw before serving.
- Double check your products for gluten but these are, as far as I know, gluten free.
- Try butterscotch or white chocolate chips in place of the chocolate.
Nutrition
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First Published: April 20, 2015. Last updated July 9, 2020 for better images, to add video, and better reader experience overall.
Old Images
Evelyn
Okay. I made these and followed the recipe to a "T". Yes, sprayed the pan with Pam. The bars are TOTALLY stuck to the bottom of the pan and Simply cannot be removed. What in the world?
Marye
I've never had that happen... You didn't happen to use homemade peanut butter did you? Sometimes that causes things to stick because there's less fat.
Candy
Are these soft?
Marye Audet
Candy, not really. They aren't terribly crispy either.
Manila Spoon (Abby)
Oh what a treasure trove of recipes and good memories you have in that cookbook! You must be so delighted to have that! And these bars are delicious and certainly timeless!
Kristen Chidsey
Your parties sound like mine did as a child--I wish everyone would return to simpler things in life. Kids need so much to stay happy these days (my kids ALWAYS have a homemade party--I refuse to pay over 200 to just rent a place for a few hours)
Sarah
Those parties arent just a thing of the past. All through my childhood my mom would make the boxed cakes, and do pin the tail on the donkey! That is the only way to do kids parties. I can't believe that Toys R US does gift registry!!
Marye Audet
I know! It seems kinda of creepy to me that they do but some people love it.
Anna @annaDishes
Oh wow, these sound awesome! I love the peanut butter and oat combo and LOVE that they "They aren’t stuffed with Oreos, bacon, or the flavor du jour but just wholesome goodness." Perfect!!
Jennifer A Stewart
Oh Henry bars were one of my favorites! I can't wait to try these bars! My kids have never heard of an O Henry bar and when I brought it up they just called it a "oldie" thing that mom keeps talking about. Like VCRs and Atari!
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass
Loved your memories, Marye. I remember similar birthdays without the cart and pony show. It was a simpler time, we lived out in the country on fifteen acres of preserve lands in RI. Spent my days visiting elderly neighbors, collecting sap from the maple trees, boiling it for syrup in the sugar house by the pond next door. The one we skated on in winter, that had the little gazebo on the island and the covered bridge on the other side. Nice memories. Now let's talk these amazing bars. OH HENRY!!! They look THE BEST. Recipes that stand the test of time are wonderful. Thanks for sharing this one here, I can tell it's a keeper.
Olivia @ livforcake
These looks delicious and I love that you have a retro cookbook that you can dive into for stuff like this!
Marye Audet
LOL! I have a ton of old cookbooks. I have one that is about how to cook on rations from WW2. 🙂
Faith (An Edible Mosaic)
I used to love these as a kid and I haven't had them in years! I am definitely craving one now though - these look incredible!
heather @french press
I treasure my grandmothers old cookbooks, and secretly long for the days when people dressed up - and I SO remember my backyard parties dresses and all 🙂 what a great trip down memory lane and what a delicious recipe
Laura @MotherWouldKnow
My mom wasn't much of a cook in the 60's, but she gave me some of her old cookbooks and I have one that is a Betty Crocker Cookie Book that I think I got when I was a brownie (not an edible one:) This recipe is classic and one that I can imagine is probably in that book (I'm too lazy to go and look for it) - the peanut and caramel flavors with chocolate on the outside is not exactly the same, but still close to the candy bar of the same name. Thought you might appreciate this link to a very esoteric discussion of the O Henry candy bar. https://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/the_oh_henrys