Cooking with Kelly: Marbled oat fudge bars

There is no better season for baking than Christmas time. The oven pleasantly heats your kitchen, there's plenty of people to share treats with and there's nothing more homey than the smell of baked goods.

These bars sandwich a layer of milk chocolate fudge in between oatmeal cookie-like anchors. Combined, you get the velvety fudge along with the texture of the oats. Yum.

So here's how it's done:
3/4 cup softened butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat works well here)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1 16-ounce package of milk chocolate chips

Using a stand mixer on medium with the whipping attachment, blend the sugar, butter and applesauce until creamed. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated, then add the salt, baking soda and vanilla. Add the flour slowly on medium speed. Next, add the oats in half-cup increments, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Using a greased, rimmed baking sheet, press roughly 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom to create a base.

Next, heat the milk and chocolate chips in the microwave together. I started at one minute, then stirred, then heated it for another 30 seconds until smooth, but every microwave is different. Spread the chocolate mixture onto the oats, then use a spoon to place dollops of the remaining oat mixture on top of the fudge.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the top oat layer is golden brown. Enjoy and share!