These Chai Bars are thick and chewy and delicious! They’re packed with chewy oats, plump raisins and warm chai spices. They’re made with one bowl, without a mixer, and are perfect for sharing!
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These chai bars are buttery oatmeal raisin bars with warm chai spices. They’re packed with oats, spices and plump raisins. This oatmeal raisin bars recipe is packed with oats, plump raisins, and warming spices. They’re thick, chewy and delicious!
They’re like oatmeal cookies only easier, thicker, and more spiced. They are the perfect easy treat to whip up for busy back to school season.
If you’re looking for more cookie recipes, try my tahini oatmeal cookies, browned butter rice krispie treats, and cherry squares.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Chai spices add warm, delicious flavor! For more warmly spiced treats, try my spiced banana cake and carrot scones.
- They have a delicious chewy texture thanks to oats and brown sugar.
- You don’t need an electric mixer to make them. Just whisk everything together by hand!
- They’re made with just one bowl.
- They pack up well. Perfect for enjoying for sharing and for a quick breakfast on the go!
Ingredients
- Butter: Use unsalted butter. Use melted butter or brown butter. Brown butter means to melt then toast the butter. Brown butter adds a nutty taste and extra depth of flavor.
- Brown sugar: Use light or dark brown sugar. Use fresh brown sugar.
- Oatmeal: Use old fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats. Do not use instant oats to make these bars. For another yummy treat with oats, try my oatmeal cranberry bars.
- Chai spices: Use your favorite chai spice mix or make your own. I like to combine ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves. If, like me, you’re a big fan of cardamom, try my orange cardamom olive oil cake!
Substitutions & Variations
- Add a pinch of white pepper to your spice mix.
- Use chocolate chips instead of raisins.
- Top with a drizzle of white or dark chocolate.
- Serve with a scoop of ice cream on top!
Instructions
Step 1: (Photo 1 above). Melt or brown the butter and set it aside to cool slightly. To brown the butter, first melt over medium low heat. Stir occasionally. Once the butter starts to sputter, whisk for about 4 minutes. When the bits become light brown and the butter begins changing color, remove saucepan from heat.
Step 2: (Photo 2 above). Whisk to combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Step 3: (Photo 3 above) Stir in the butter, egg and vanilla.
Step 4: (Photo 4 above) Fold in the raisins and oats.
Step 5: (Photo 5 above) Spread and press the mixture evenly into an 8 by 8 inch pan. Bake 23-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
Step 6: (Photo 6 above) Cool completely in the pan before cutting.
Expert Tips
Tip #1: For best results, grind the spices yourself or use recently opened spices.
Tip #2: Let the bars cool before slicing. They will be easier to slice when they’re cool.
Recipe FAQs
Swap in dried cranberries, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips in place of the raisins. Pretzels or chopped nuts would be a great add in too!
Recipes for chai spice can vary. Most recipes include cardamom, cinnamon, and clove.
Store leftover bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator fot up to 1 week. Freeze for up to 1 month.
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Chai Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (1/4 teaspoon) ginger
- ½ teaspoon (1/4 teaspoon) cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon (1/4 teaspoon) cloves or allspice or pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg optional
- 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 teaspoon) salt
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (165 g) light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter browned or simply melted and slightly cooled
- 1 (1) large egg
- ¾ teaspoon (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cup (135.14 g) rolled oats not quick cooking oats
- ¾ cup (108.75 g) raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with nonstick spray and line the pan with parchment paper, leaving some excess paper on two sides to make the bars easier to remove from the pan once baked.
- Melt or brown the butter. To brown the butter, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally at first. Once begins to bubble and comes to a boil, stir it constantly. It will start to foam. Continue stirring as you watch for it to turn a light, amber color and develop a nutty smell which should happen in about five minutes. Pour the brown butter into a heat safe bowl, making sure the scrape the bottom of the pan for all the bits. Set the butter aside to cool slightly. In the meantime, continue with the recipe.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, spices, baking soda, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt. Use a spatula to stir in the butter, egg and vanilla. Gently fold in the raisins and oats.
- Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 22-24 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Nicki
These re incredible! Oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite cookies, and this bar version of them with the lovely fall spices is even better. These are soo quick and easy to make, as no mixer is required. I soaked my raisins in boiling water first, which made them a bit plumper. The bars are soft and chewy and delicious. I also used a 9 inch pan instead of 8, and 17 minutes in the oven was perfect.
Natalie
Yay!! I’m so happy you enjoyed these, Nicki! Thank you so much for making them and for your kind words and helpful feedback. I especially love the tip about soaking the raisins! Hope you enjoy the weekend XO Natalie
Gloria
Can you drop these as cookies?
Natalie
Hi Gloria, Hmmm good question. Unfortunately I haven’t tried baking these as cookies, so I can’t say for sure how they’d turn out without trying it out. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Have a nice day 🙂
Sandra
Very tasty!
Natalie
Thanks for your comment and for making these chai bars Sandra! Happy you enjoyed them!
Emily
Soooo good! Even my boyfriend who doesn’t like sweets went back for seconds. Perfect balance of spice and sweet.
Natalie
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for your sweet comment!! So happy you loved these bars and amazing that your boyfriend enjoyed them too! 🙂
Frances
Love this recipe. I used pumpkin spice and pumpkin seeds instead of the chai spices and they were delicious. I am a big fan of all your recipes
Natalie
Hi Frances, Thank you so much for making these chai bars. Great idea to use pumpkin spice and pumpkin seeds. So happy you enjoy my recipes. Thanks so much for supporting my blog! Have a great week 🙂 -Natalie
Annie
One word! AMAZING. Made these the other day and brought them to a party. They disappeared in minutes. Thank you thank you thank you 🙂
Natalie
Hey Annie! Yayyy! I’m thrilled these chai bars were such a hit! Thanks so much for making them 🙂 -Natalie
Martin
These chai bars are delicious! Lovely texture and perfect spice notes.
Natalie
Hi Martin, I love the texture and flavor of these chai bars and am so happy you enjoyed them too! Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try and for your comment. Have a great night! xo Natalie
Barbara Briggs Ward
Yummy combo of tasty ingredients!
Natalie
Yes definitely thank you! Classic oatmeal raisin deliciousness with some additional warm spices! What’s not to love 🙂