Oatmeal Carmelitas

These buttery, soft, and chewy Oatmeal Carmelitas are filled with smooth caramel and chocolate chips in the center. A crust and crumble topping with an oatmeal brown sugar streusel is the perfect touch to the rich caramel. Carmelitas Bars are sweet & salty perfection. 

Carmelitas Recipe

If sweet & salty is your preferred dessert flavor then these carmelitas are a must try! So much chewy texture thanks to the oatmeal brown sugar crust and crumble topping, and then it’s filled with a creamy, smooth, and sweet caramel + milk chocolate mixture. 

The addition of sea salt and salted butter pairs perfectly with the sweet caramel and milk chocolate. 

Ingredients Needed

• Werther’s Soft Caramels – These are the soft & chewy caramels that come individually wrapped. I love using, and totally recommend, the Werther’s brand. But there are options if needed that are listed down below. 
• Heavy Cream – No substitutes!
• All-Purpose Flour – I use unbleached all purpose flour in all my baking. 
• Quick Oats – These are the quick -minute oats. 
• Light Brown Sugar
• Baking Soda
• Sea Salt – This is preferred as it goes perfectly with the sweet caramel. 
• Salted Butter
• Milk Chocolate Chips

How To Make Caramel Chocolate & Oatmeal Carmelitas Bars

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. It helps if you spray the pan first with cooking spray and then line it with the paper, this way the parchment paper adhered to the pan better. 
2. In a small pot, over low heat, add the soft caramels and heavy cream. Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is melted and smooth. 
3. While the caramel is cooking prepare the oat crumble mixture. Whisk together the flour, quick oats, light brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter into the bowl and stir to combine until it looks like chunky wet sand. 
4. Firmly press a little over half of this mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. 
5. Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle the milk chocolate chips evenly over the oatmeal layer. Pour the melted caramel over top. Sprinkle the remaining oat crumble mixture over top the caramel as best as you can. It won’t completely cover it and that’s ok. 
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until it’s bubbling and the edges are browned and the top is golden brown. 
7. Allow the bars to set at room temperature for 1-2 hours so they can set and firm up. 

How To Store Leftovers

Keep any leftover bars at room temperature, inside an airtight container or covered n plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. 

I have never tried freezing them but I am sure it would work just fine. I recommend wrapping each bar in plastic wrap and then in foil before freezing. Frozen carmelitas will freeze well for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before eating. 

Substitution & Variation Ideas

Although this recipe for carmelitas bars is pretty straight forward, there are a few changes that you can make if needed. 

• Caramel : I know Kraft makes some square caramels that are individually wrapped and those would work just fine in this recipe. Werther’s also makes a vanilla caramel (soft caramels) that are really, really good in these bars. Any soft & chewy caramel will work but you’ll want to make sure that it’s soft, individually wrapped (because that is how the recipe measure it), and that’s it is caramel. I have also seen some chocolate caramel soft & chewy candy that would work in this recipe (I think Werther’s makes that one as well). 
• Oats : Regular whole, old-fashioned oats can be substituted in this recipe. In fact, if you want more of a chewy and heartier texture from the oats then go ahead and use them. The quick oats are smaller and finer in size & texture, so it really just depends on what you prefer. 
• Milk Chocolate Chips & Light Brown Sugar : I don’t personally recommend doing this but it is an option if you want a less sweet bar + a deeper molasses flavor in the bars. Use dark brown sugar and/or semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips if wanted. 

Recipe Tips

Here are a few of my helpful tips that will hopefully make it easier for you to recreate this recipe in your own kitchen ♥

• Set Time : When the bars come out of the oven they will look like they’re wet and somewhat jiggly. That is ok! Remember, we put liquid caramel in the center so it’s expected that it will still be warm and liquid even after baking. This is why the set/chill time is so important. It allows the bars to set and thicken, and it really does magic for the carmelitas. They’re like a whole new bar once they’ve cooled and set up. 
• How To Tell When The Bars Are Done : Because of the liquid caramel center it’s difficult to do the toothpick test because of course it won’t come out clean. The trick is to look at the edges and the top. The edges should be darker golden brown and start to pull away from the sides of the pan. While the top of the bars should be a lighter golden brown color and look done for the most part, besides the liquid caramel that might seep up while baking. 
• Use Sea Salt : There is something magical about pairing sea salt with a sweeter ingredient like caramel and milk chocolate chips. It really is so delicious! Of course, other salt varieties can be used but this recipe has been tested multiple times with different salts and the sea salt won each time.
• Parchment Paper : Line the pan with parchment paper and leave some overhang so you can easily grab the bars out. It’s also much easier and cleaner to cut the bars into squares when you can take them out of the pan. I recommend spraying the pan first with cooking spray (sides and bottom) and then lining it with parchment paper. The cooking spray helps the parchment paper stay in place. 

More Caramel Recipes To Try

• Easy Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
• Caramel Pretzel Bites
• Caramel Apple Muffins
• Caramel Pumpkin Bundt Cake
• Homemade Caramel Sauce
• Caramel Chocolate Turtle Dump Cake