In a small bowl, stir together oats and milk. Set aside so that oats can start to soften.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and the butter until fluffy.
Add peanut butter and incorporate.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add vanilla and stir.
Stir in flour and soda.
Stir in oat and milk mixture. Batter will be sticky.
Spread batter into a large rimmed greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cookies should be lightly golden but not too dark.
When the bars come out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top and let sit for 3-5 minutes until the chips start to look shiny and melt.
Spread the chocolate chips all over the top with a spatula. Let cool before cutting into squares.
Notes
Love dark chocolate? Feel free to use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Really, you can use any chocolate chips you like or have on hand (peanut butter is also awesome!).
This recipe works best with traditional creamy peanut butter. When I tried it with natural peanut butter, it was a bit dry.
You can use quick oats in this recipe; it'll work just great. The texture will be slightly less chewy than when you use old fashioned oats.