Hi Amber! Sorry for the delayed response! Yes this will work without the oreos, it may just need to bake for less time. 🙂

Hi Chantalle! I am so sorry you had problems. This definitely sounds like an oven issue. Sometimes mine works great half the day and then quits for a little while then works again. Do you happen to have thermometers in your oven to monitor your oven temperature?

I tried them in the 9 x 9 pan at 350F and after an hour and 20 minutes they still were not cooked in the centre??? Not sure if my oven is doing something weird or not (but the cinnamon buns I made the same day turned out fine)- next time would try with a bigger pan I think.

Hi Michelle! It sounds like one of two things probably happened (or maybe a bit of both).

1) How did you measure your flour? If you used cups, by chance did you scoop the flour directly into the measuring cup? This could have packed it in (the best way to measure flour is to stir it, spoon it into the measuring cup, then level it off). If it was scooped directly into the cup, it was most likely over-measured which would result in a dough that’s too stiff like it sounds like you have and could make them dry.
2) If the flour wasn’t the problem, I would guess that your oven temperature is probably running hotter than it is telling you. If your bars were golden and finished baking after just 30 minutes I”m wondering if your oven temperature is accurate. It could be running a lot hotter than it’s reading, resulting in over-baked, dry bars. I’d recommend getting one or two inexpensive oven thermometers and hanging them in your oven to see if the temperature is accurate.
This recipe is pretty well tested and I’m confident it’s right as written (I bake a lot, too), but I hope those tips are helpful!

Disappointed how dry the bars turned out! Not sure if anyone else encountered this but (minus bake time) I followed the recipe to the T. The bars from the middle of the pan were okay, but the bars all around the perimeter were not at all worth the calories even though they looked delicious…! I bake a lot, and this recipe would do better with some tweaking imo.

It would take a little bit of tweaking, and it’s hard for me to say exactly how having not tried it.

I love the orange and black Halloween theme idea! I am so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂

I’m sorry Amber I do not have any experience with a convection oven. 😟

Yup they are thick bars! Feel free to bake in a larger pan (13×9 would work) but the bake time will vary.

I did! You can watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/Sugarspunrun/videos/933351586821012/

The vanilla definitely would make it better, but with all of the other add-in — the sprinkles and Oreos — I think you’ll be just fine flaor-wise and they’ll still be good!

Thank you so much, Shelby! They helped make up for the not-so-fun urgent care trip 😉

Thank you so much, Emma! 🙂

So glad you enjoyed them!