Vegan Grandma Mistake Bars

Crust:

Cream together:

1 cup or 2 sticks of Earth Balance

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups oatmeal

Mix until it is crumbly. Put 1/2 the mixture into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Filling

Melt - ½ cup or 1 stick Earth Balance

Add:

1 (12 ounce) package chocolate chips

1 cup (8oz) vegan sweetened condensed milk *

Stir until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over oatmeal mixture, then drop spoonfuls of the rest of the oatmeal mixture on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

* Homemade sweetened condensed milk: (yield 1 ½ cups)

¾ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

Water to make 1½ cups liquid, divided

⅔ cup sweetener (use as healthy as possible. Use organic xylitol or Stevia.

½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Pinch of salt 

Instructions:

Grind coconut as fine as possible in a blender or spice grinder.

Add about ¾ cup water and blend well for about 1 minute.

Add the remaining amount of water, sweetener, vanilla and salt. Blend well.

Store any excess in a closed container in your refrigerator.