Lori Mantz Bars... oh sweet mama.

I'm not sure who Lori Mantz is or was, but I know that she made these bars, and I know that I love her. Lori Mantz bars are a combination of a brownie and an oatmeal cookie, except better. The bottom is a bit salty and chewy, the top is sweet and soft and chocolatey, and the overall effect is similar to what I imagine an angel would taste like.

You make these bars in three parts: bottom, middle, top.

For part one, you need: 1 cup flour, 2 cups rolled oats (NOT instant oats, the 'old fashioned' kind), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, and 12 tablespoons butter.


First, butter a 9x13 pan. Please ignore my arm hair. Also, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine your flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. And if you see dirty dishes in the background of this picture, you should probably go get your eyes checked because there are no dirty dishes in this picture. Nope. No, sir. None there.

In a separate bowl, melt your butter. You could wait to melt your butter until you actually need it, but I like to melt it early so it has time to cool down a little bit. I don't know why. It just feels right.

To the flour mixture, add your oats and brown sugar. Mix 'er up.


Now, pour in your melted butter, and mix until you get...

...this!


Press the mixture into the bottom of your pan, and bake for 10 minutes.

Part 2! You need: 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, 8 tablespoons butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup milk, and 1 tsp vanilla.

Throw your chocolate, butter, and sugar in a bowl, and microwave it until it's all melted, stirring every minute or so.

Here I am stirring after about two minutes. It is not ready.

Here I am stirring after about five minutes total. Oh mama, that looks goooooooood.


Let it sit for a minute so it's not too hot - we don't want to cook the eggs when we add them. Then, add the eggs and mix well.

Add your flour...
...baking soda...
... and salt. Stir well to combine.

Now add the milk and vanilla. It may take awhile to fully combine it with the chocolate mixture, but keep stirring. It'll get there.

Yum.
Spread the chocolate batter on top of the oatmeal layer (which you took out of the oven after ten minutes of baking.) You can use a Christmas-themed spatula, even if it is not Christmas, because we can celebrate Jesus' birthday every day! Right? Throw the pan back in the oven for 25 minutes.

Layer three! All right! We need 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla. And 2 tablespoons of water, which I forgot to put in the picture. My bad.

First, melt together your butter and chocolate.

Add your powdered sugar and vanilla and stir well.

Now, add 2 tablespoons of hot water slowly to the bowl until it reaches a lovely pourable consistency...

...like this. Yummmmmmm, frosting!!!!!

Naked brownie top after 25 minutes in the oven...

Spread on your frosting! AND LET IT SET. These bars are NOT okay to eat warm from the oven. You must let them rest until the frosting has set. Please trust me. These bars need time to meld.


Hello, beautiful.

You're definitely going to want milk with this bad girl. Oh, these bars are so good... sweet and salty and chocolatey and delicious. Plus, they have oatmeal in them, so they are healthy. Go make them!