A buttery oat crust, rich chocolate, and gooey caramel come together to create these irresistible Carmelitas. An oat base is topped with chocolate chips and homemade caramel and then baked in the oven until golden. These have all the best flavors wrapped up in one scrumptious dessert.
The Best Gooey Carmelita Bars
The recipe starts with melted Kraft caramels and cream, creating a rich, smooth filling that gets poured over a buttery oatmeal crust topped with chocolate chips. More of the oatmeal crust goes on top before baking in the oven where they form into the most amazing dessert bar.
The crust is not made with just butter, but with browned butter adding another layer of flavor.
These bars are incredibly easy to make, and they hold together beautifully without being too gooey. The hardest part is unwrapping the caramels.
They’ve got the perfect balance of chewiness and flavor and are great for any occasion. You’ll find that they ship well, if you’re in to sharing, even in the summer.
Carmelitas are a mix between oatmeal cookies and caramel bars. The oatmeal binds them together making them easy to eat without a lot of crumbs or sticky fingers.
These would probably be better if you used homemade caramels, but I think this is one recipe where the Kraft caramels save a lot of time and you don’t sacrifice much.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for sharing: Carmelitas are easy to cut into bars and perfect for sharing at any event or shipping off to loved ones.
- Easy: This recipe comes together in under an hour for a quick dessert.
- Layered goodness: The oat, caramel, and chocolate layers create a magical dessert.
What’s In These Bars?
- Pantry staples: You’ll need all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Unsalted butter: You do not have to brown the butter. You can use melted butter instead. However, browning butter adds a depth of nutty flavor, so you can if you have the time.
- Old-fashioned rolled oats: Use old-fashioned and not instant or quick-cook oats.
- Milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips: This is for the chocolate layer. Feel free to use any combination of chocolate chips you like.
- Flaky sea salt: For sprinkling on top.
- Caramel squares and heavy cream: These create a caramel sauce that gets poured on top. I used Kraft caramels for this recipe, but any soft caramel will work.
How to Make Carmelitas
Step One: Make the Brown Butter
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it starts to turn amber. Let it cool, and stir in the vanilla.
Step Two: Prepare the Oat Mixture
In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients like flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the brown butter and stir until combined.
Step Three: Bake the First Layer
Place parchment paper or aluminum foil in an 8-inch square pan, letting it overhang the pan to make it easier to get them out. Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for a bit until it starts to set.
Step Four: Make the Caramel Layer
Melt the caramels and cream in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth.
Step Five: Layer and Bake
Top the baked oat layer with chocolate chips and pour the caramel sauce over it. Sprinkle with sea salt and crumble the rest of the oat mixture on top. Bake in the oven again until golden and bubbly.
Step Six: Cool and Serve
Let the bars cool completely before slicing. Pop them in the fridge for a couple of hours to get the best texture and make them easier to cut.
Customize This Recipe
- Nuts: Chop up some pecans or walnuts and add them with the chocolate chips.
- Coconut: Add shredded coconut to the oat mixture for a tropical twist.
- Chocolate: You can use all milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or dark chocolate if you like! Butterscotch or even white chocolate chips would be delicious.
- Double the recipe: Make a double batch and bake in a 9×13-inch dish instead of an 8×8-inch pan.
Storing Tips
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Make sure to flash-freeze the bars on a baking sheet first before adding them to a freezer bag, this will keep them from sticking together. Let the Carmelitas thaw on the counter before eating.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt
- 32 caramel squares (11 ounce bag)
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.
- Add butter to a saucepan and cook over medium high heat until it just starts to turn amber, about 3-5 minutes. Immediately remove to a glass bowl and allow to cool, then add vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Pour the brown butter over the dry mixture, stirring with a fork until it is combined.
- Divide the flour mixture in half and place half of the mixture on the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- While baking, combine the caramels and heavy cream and microwave until melted, stirring at 30 second intervals for about 2 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Then pour the caramel mixture evenly over the top and sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon of flaky sea salt. Crumble the remaining flour mixture on top and return to the oven. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are brown.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges to keep the caramel from sticking. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before cutting.
Notes
- You can easily double this recipe, just use a 9 x 13 pan.
- These are sturdy enough to ship and will stay intact even in warm weather.
Can you use quick oats?
You can use quick oats, I just prefer the old-fashioned.