Stress-free Butterscotch-Chocolate Bars

This week was quite the grind.  With visits to the vet for a sick cat and the normal teacher work load combined with additional responsibilities of being a graduate student, I haven't had much time to cook and bake for fun.  I was that kind of busy where you have so much to do that you just shut down and end up doing nothing. My Saturday was spent at the vet (again) and playing catch up on all the things I should have done all week.

Anyway, dinner time rolled around this evening and I stepped foot into the kitchen after what seemed like a long absence.  I had originally planned to just make our easy go-to-favorite, chicken-spaghetti casserole.  As the casserole was in progress, I had a wild idea (or at least wild, given my week).  I'll make a simple dessert.  After making sure that I had all the necessary ingredients, I began baking.

I could almost feel the stress of the week melting away. Being in my kitchen makes me happy.  Cooking and baking makes me happy.  The feeling of successfully multitasking makes me happy.  Sure, the whole process took maybe 20 minutes.  But those 20 minutes were worth it.

Moral of the story?  Take some time to do what you love.  With those much-needed 20 minutes in the kitchen and my newly-made butterscotch-chocolate bars, I'm ready to take on whatever this week has in store.

Stress-free Butterscotch-Chocolate Bars

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oats

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup butterscotch morsels

2/3 cup chocolate morsels

2/3 cup semisweet flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 inch square pan with foil.  Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, salt, and melted butter. Press into the bottom of prepared pan.
3. Sprinkle with butterscotch, chocolate, and coconut.
4. Bake until lightly browned, about 18 minutes.  Let cool for 6 hours before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!