Chewy oatmeal and chocolate squares

Trying to replicate my mum's buttery, crunchy oat biscuits I instead created a recipe for chewy oat cookies with chocolate and a hint of caramel.

One of my childhood staple foods were crisp, golden oat squares that my mum used to make. When I got older I started baking them myself. Unfortunately the recipe got forgotten and lost over the years... I've been trying to come up with a replacement for years.
My most recent trials lead me to create a recipe that actually doesn't resemble mum's cookies at all – but might be even better.

The keys to success are large oats that don't soak in as much liquids as finer ones do and the use of brown sugar and dark syrup to give flavour.

Oatmeal and chocolate squares

Makes a tray of about 16 squares

300 ml thick-rolled oats (smaller flakes work but give a different outcome)
100 ml whole grain wheat or spelt flour (plain flour works, too)
50 ml fair-trade sugar, preferably unrefined brown sugar
1 tsp salt (less or none if your brand of margarine is pre-salted)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp soy or oat milk (water will do in a pinch)
75g margarine, melted
50 ml syrup or molasses
50g fair-trade dark, milk-free chocolate, chopped

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the margarine in a microwave oven or on the stove and add all the rest of the ingredients to the oats. Mix well before you dump the mass onto a baking tray covered with non-stick baking paper. Shape the oats into an even square that's about 0,5–1 cm thick. Move bigger chocolate pieces away from the edges so they don't burn.

Bake the cookies at 200° C for about 15 minutes. Cut into squares while hot.

P.S. Heating the oven uses a lot of energy so try to prepare more things at once. You could, for example, make roasted chickpeas to snack on or bake a quick tray of seed crackers!