Take oatmeal bars up a notch

Is there no end to cooks’ enthusiasm for taking a good thing one step further? For giving a recipe one more tweak? In pursuit of perfection, no less?

This colorful variation on the chocolate-chip oatmeal bar cookie is fresh from the kitchen experimenting of AP photo editor Carolyn Chappo. Starting with a package of M&M’s rainbow-hued mini baking bits, but not ending there, Chappo developed this version of the crunchy bars, taste-tested by colleagues.

Rainbow Chip Oatmeal Bars

3 sticks of butter

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup regular sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 3/4 cups flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

12-ounce package M&M’s mini baking bits (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and combine.

In separate bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix. Add baking bits or chocolate chips and mix through dough.

Spread dough onto an ungreased 11-by-17-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until light golden-brown and firm. Cool in pan; cut into squares.

Yield: 32 bars