Lightened Up

So, my last call was MUCH better than my previous one. The babies were kind, didn't crump, and though there were lots of babies born, they were mostly on time. I was already sleep deprived after going to a retreat for our church college Sunday School and getting up early to come to call with M, so around 0030 when I was unable to keep my eyes open, I went to bed. I didn't get paged and got up around 6:30 (after fitful sleep). Then, we had a delivery to attend and I got to intubate a baby again...successful on the first time! Woo Hoo! My call was definitely lighter! And so is this bar cookie I took to call a couple of weeks ago. This is one of the recipes I had saved from a Cooking Light (April 2009). It's for a lightened up Butterscotch Bar. One reason I like it is that it uses sweetened condensed milk. Yes, I know this stuff is horrible for you, but I love it. I used to always get one of the flavors that "required" it when I would get sno-biz (Hawaiian shaved ice....so good!). However, this recipe only used 3/4 cup of it (about half a can). I didn't have any butterscotch and, after NOT reading the instructions, thought that white chocolate-chocolate swirled chips would be yummy. Well, you end up melting the chips, so the swirl didn't really matter! It still turned out being pretty good. The bars were a tad dry but not so dry that it hurt to eat them. I enjoyed one for breakfast post-call. :-) Lightened Chocolate (or Butterscotch) Bars from Cooking Light April 2009
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
9 ounces AP flour (2 cups)
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats (I only had old fashioned...maybe this is why they were a bit dry) 1/2 teaspoon salt (I didn't use)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups butterscotch morsels (or your chosen flavor)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I don't think I used nuts)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar and butter in bowl. Sitr in vanilla and egg. Combine flour and oats and soda in a bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture; stir until combined and crumbly. Place 3 cups oat mixture i the bottom of a cooking spray coated 13X9 pan. Press into the bottom of the pan. In a bowl place the sweetened condensed milk, morsels and microwave for 1 minute or until morsels melt, sitrring every 20 secconds. Stir in nuts if using. Scrape on top of crust until evenly covered. Sprinkly evenly with the remaining oat mixture and press into the milk mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Run a knife around the edges after removing from oven. Allow to cool completely. Yield: 36 bars at 146 calories a bar.