The (not-so-great) Scotch disaster of 2014

This may look like a recipe post, but it isn't! The other weekend I decided to use up some things in my pantry. Like this:

I found a recipe in an old cookbook for something yummy and simple called Scotch Teas.

Click on it if you need to embiggen it and see the recipe a little better. It's so simple, I whipped it up in no time and it felt glorious making cookies on the stovetop instead of the Kitchenaid - something new!

It was at this point I realized there was nothing binding the oats together in any sort of union. It was each oat for himself just like in the bag, only now they were warm and had a tasty covering.

They came out of the oven sort of set up, but don't be fooled. I was right there looking at it in close-up view and I knew the oats weren't interested in staying together. But I tried anyway and bravely went to work with a pizza cutter trying to get cuts to equal 4 dozen (wow, that's a lot in a 9x13 pan).

They were falling apart already and I regret to inform you, I had a Scotch disaster on my hands:

These were not bound together by anything more than a whispered promise. The corners were good, though. I ate some. Naturally.

I thought about saving this mess for something yummy in the future:

I optimistically bagged it up and threw it all in the freezer. It crumbled easily into single oats as you can well see. One oat at a time there in the bag. I had confident visions of throwing it into and onto a coffee cake, but now I'm not so sure.

I suppose the oats weren't quick cooking and if they had been, the oats would have gamely soaked up some of the caramel in the hot saucepan. I'm not sure if that's the answer to the disaster - - is that what went wrong?

I may try again with half the recipe in an 8x8 pan because butter is expensive. And I may sound cheap, but we run through butter and eggs as though we were feeding a family of five at my house.

In the meantime and at any rate, I have a lot of something I'm not sure what to do about.