Oatmeal Carmelitas

If you want something really rich, sweet and satisfying, try these bars.  They might be too much for some people.  We brought these over to our friends house when we went over for dinner, and they were very well-recieved.  They're easy to put together, too, just a little time consuming, as any food with layers usually is. 

This recipe, as written, didn't work for me for one main reason: there's supposed to be enough "cookie" layer to have a layer both on the top and bottom, but I found there was only enough for one bottom layer.  So I made a half-recipe of the cookie for the topping.  I used SO much butter, it's almost a crime.  I noticed as I was making the half-recipe that I could probably have used a little less butter, so in the recipe I'm posting 1/3 cup instead of the 1/2 cup that I used. 

After I fixed the topping problem, these came together very nicely and were very delicious.  For the caramel, I used Kraft Caramel Bits so I didn't have to unwrap caramels.  I used 14 oz. of them, so I had to use one full bag and part of another. 

Other changes I made were using whole, rolled oats instead of quick, some whole wheat pastry flour, mini chocolate chips (all I had on hand), and cutting down on the brown sugar.  If you don't have unsalted butter on hand, just use salted butter and cut out the salt.

As the recipe is originally written, I bet it would work great in a 9x9 pan with no changes.  That way you wouldn't have to increase the cookie part, and could probably get away with using 11 ounces of caramel bits and not have to open up another bag to get 14 ounces.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

heavily adapted from Allrecipes.com

Caramel Layer:

14 ounces caramels bits

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Bottom Layer:
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate/Walnut Layer:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Top Layer:
1 cup flour (can mix white and whole wheat)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.Make the Caramel Layer: In a saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the caramels with the evaporated milk, stirring frequently until smooth. Set aside.

3.Make the bottom layer:  In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the melted butter. Press this mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

4.Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle the crust with chocolate chips and walnuts. Drizzle the caramel mixture over all. Make the top layer and crumble it evenly over the top, and pat down lightly.

5.Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is golden. Cool before cutting into bars.

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