Candy Bar Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups raw quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

Start heating the oven to 350° F.
Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan with unsalted shortening or salad oil.
With a spoon or electric mixer on medium speed, mix the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add the corn syrup, vanilla, salt and rolled oats and beat on low speed to mix ingredients well.
Spread the mixture evenly in the greased pan with the back of a spoon or spatula.
Bake on the rack in the center of the oven 15 minutes.
While the mixture bakes, mix the peanut butter and chocolate in a small bowl or a glass measuring cup. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute.
Remove the pan from the oven and pour the peanut butter-chocolate mixture evenly over the top to cover.
When cool, cut into 27 bars and remove from the pan with a spatula.

A couple of notes:

This is a terrific recipe for the harried parent. Prep time is 15 minutes - cooking time is 15 minutes.
These cookies are not best hot out of the oven. They are a crumbly, gooey mess. They are best eaten the next day.

All good recipes have stories and this one is no different. I received the cookbook Let's Start to Cook for my 8th birthday. I made these cookies all the time as a pre-teen and teenager. In fact, I made them so often that the page fell out of the cookbook. It wasn't a problem at the time, since I had the recipe memorized. I left for college, my mom moved, and somehow the recipe disappeared. It has been missing it for 20 years. With the advent of the internet, I searched recipe web sites with no luck. My son actually helped me find the cookbook. He wanted a book that was out of print. I found it on Amazon and ordered it. After ordering his book, I thought that perhaps there was a chance I could find my old cookbook. There was - and even more than one copy. Thanks, Amazon! Hope you enjoy the cookies.