Easy Oatmeal Raisin Butterscotch Bars
These soft and chewy Butterscotch Oatmeal Raisin Bars are perfect for busy bakers! If you love the classic flavors of oatmeal raisin cookies but want something quicker and more portable, these bars deliver all the same delicious taste with half the work.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Oatmeal Raisin Bars with Butterscotch Mmm, Mm!
- Serves: 12 bars
- Main Ingredients: Rolled oats, Brown sugar, Baking Mix, Egg, butter, Vanilla, cinnamon, raisins
- Why You'll Love It: With a tender soft cookie texture, the taste of butter, brown sugar, butterscotch, and raisins these will become a quick favorite. They also remain moist and delicious in your cookie jar – if they live long enough to make it there.
Why You’ll Love These Butterscotch Oatmeal Bars
Bar cookies are my secret weapon for stress-free baking. Instead of dropping individual cookies, you simply spread the dough in one pan and slice when cool. They’re perfect for care packages, travel treats, or when you need dessert fast. And like chocolate cottage cheese oatmeal muffins, they can also be a sweet breakfast option!
Baking Mix Notes: I’m using House-Autry Buttermilk Biscuit Baking Mix for these bars. While you can use any baking mix you have on hand, I find this one creates an especially rich, tender cookie. The buttermilk adds a subtle tang that pairs beautifully with the sweet butterscotch.
Reader Review
“I made these tonight…AMAZING!! Nothing like cinnamon, raisins, and brown sugar. Yuuummmm. I’m passing this along to all my girlfriends 🙂” – Heather
Ingredients
- Raisins (use plump, fresh raisins for the best texture)
- Baking mix
- Dark brown sugar
- Oats (I prefer old-fashioned)
- Cinnamon
- Egg
- Butter
- Vanilla
- Butterscotch chips
Don’t Skip These Tips!
- I like to press the dough down firmly and evenly with the back of a lightly greased spatula before baking. It helps the bars bake up with a nice even thickness throughout.
- These bars are delicious warm from the oven, but they’re even better after they’ve had time to set. Let them cool completely before cutting for the cleanest slices.
- A fantastic activity for kids, the simple mixing method means little hands can help with almost every step! We love making these as an after-school snack with a glass of milk or alongside morning coffee.
- Perfect for on-the-go snacking! Unlike traditional oatmeal cookies, these bars are incredibly sturdy, making them ideal for packing in lunch boxes or taking on road trips, and they stay moist for days!
How to Make Butterscotch Oatmeal Raisin Bars
1. Prep Your Pan
Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan and preheat your oven to 350°F. Trust me, greasing the pan well will save you heartache later when it’s time to remove these beauties!
2. Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients
Melt your butter in the microwave and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the baking mix, brown sugar, egg, and oats. Stir everything together until well combined. The mixture should look cohesive but not overmixed.
3. Add All the Delicious Mix-Ins
Now comes the fun part! Fold in your butterscotch chips and raisins, then add the cinnamon and vanilla. Give everything one final good stir to distribute all the goodies evenly throughout the dough.
Mixing tip: Don’t overmix once you add the butterscotch chips and raisins. You want them evenly distributed without breaking them up.
4. Bake to Perfection
Spread the mixture evenly in your prepared 8×8 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away slightly from the pan and the center feels set but still soft.
Doneness test: The bars are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Don’t overbake, or they’ll lose that wonderful chewy texture.
Storage
Keep these bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. They actually get more flavorful after a day or two as all the ingredients meld together.
Butterscotch Oatmeal Raisin Bars FAQs
Yes, but rolled oats will give you a better texture. Quick oats tend to make the bars a little more dense and less chewy. I always reach for rolled oats when I have them on hand because they hold their shape better and give you that classic hearty bite.
Absolutely! Dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries would work really well here. I have made these Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies when I’ve run out of raisins, and honestly, my family loved them just as much. Just keep the quantity the same so the ratio stays balanced.
Yes! Just use a 9×13-inch pan instead and keep an eye on the bake time. I usually add about 5 to 10 minutes when I double it, but every oven is a little different, so start checking around the 30-minute mark.
They probably needed a little more time to cool. I know it is hard to wait, but letting them cool completely in the pan before cutting makes a huge difference. I usually leave mine for at least an hour before I even think about slicing them.
These bars are even better when shared! Leave a star rating below and tell me who you made them for in the comments.
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 cup brown sugar packed (I use light or dark, whatever I have on hand)
- 2 cups baking mix I’m using House-Autry Buttermilk Biscuit and Baking Mix
- 1 egg
- 1 stick butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ raisins
- ½ cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, baking mix, brown sugar, egg, and rolled oats. Mix until well blended.1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups baking mix, 1 egg, 1 stick butter, ½ cup rolled oats
- Stir in the butterscotch chips, raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla extract until evenly distributed.1 tsp cinnamon, ½ raisins, ½ cup butterscotch chips, 1 tsp vanilla
- Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely, then cut into bars.
Would you have a good baking mix recipe that you make up? I never know what to choose on the store shelves and I bet I live a minimum of 15 hours away from the South (I’m in Nebraska).
I’d love to try these – minus all the additives in store bought baking mix. (Ignore the fact that I’m adding butterscotch or peanut butter chips to these – LOL
Tina
I don’t know what baking mix is. I’m in my 60’s and I never heard of baking mix! But if I figure that out, I will definitely be using dried cranberries instead of raisins — it IS Thanksgiving/Christmas season! And nuts, too, to make it giftable. Winnie and I are on the same track. 🙂
Bisquick is baking mix. You may be more familiar with that dried cranberries would be sublime!
I noticed a mistake in the printable recipe. It just says 1/2 raisins. Now it probably means 1/2 CUP of raisins, but just thought I’d let you know.
Not a big fan of raisins but I have craisins in the pantry. Can’t have a cookie without nuts so that will be added too. Love the idea of using a baking mix. Can’t wait to try these soon. Thanks for all the great recipes using products we currently have on hand most of the time.
Great ideas Winnie!! And that is one of the great things about this recipe, very versatile.
Girl I want to put this recipe on our website (House-Autry). It’s easy, tastes good and uses my favorite House-Autry product!
These sound really good. Not a big fan of raisins. Might be just as good without.. my grandchildren are home for the holidays. Will be putting this on things to make list.
dh is not a fan of butterscotch – wonder if putting dates in place of butterscotch
would work?
Or chocolate chips, whatever you like! This is easily adaptable so just make the whole thing to suit you!:)