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.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword carmelitas, carmelitas bars, oatmeal carmelitas

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 26

Total Time 41

Servings

Calories 390kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Equipment

Ingredients

Caramel

30 Werther's soft caramels unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Bars

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
12 tablespoons salted butter melted
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line a 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
^{* TIP : I like to first spray the pan with cooking spray and then add the parchment paper. The cooking spray helps the paper adhere to the pan and not slip everywhere. I also use a pre-cut cookie sheet size parchment paper (linked above) and cut it in half, that way the pieces fit perfectly into the pan and you don't end up with the messy corners.}
Make The Caramel Sauce : In a small pot, over low heat, add the soft caramels and heavy cream. Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is completely melted and smooth. Once done, remove from the heat.
30 Werther's soft caramels, 1/3 cup heavy cream
Make The Bars : While the caramel is melting prepare the bars.
In a mixing bowl add the flour, quick oats, light brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir together with a whisk to combine.
1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup quick oats, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Pour the melted butter over top and stir together until combined and it resembles chunky wet sand.
12 tablespoons salted butter
Firmly press about 2/3 of the mixture (a little over half of it) into the prepared pan. Reserve the reamaning for later.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Once done, take the pan out of the oven and evenly sprinkle the milk chocolate chips over top. Then, carefully pour the melted caramel all over the chocolate chips.
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over top of the caramel. It won't completely cover it and that's ok.
Cook the bars for 15-18 minutes or until it's bubbly and the edges are browned and the top is golden brown.
The bars will look a little loose when you take them out of the oven, almost jiggly, and that is ok. As it cools, the bars set and firm up perfectly.
Allow the bars to cool inside the baking pan for 1-2 hours or until they're completely set. Lift the bars out of the pan and cut into squares.
^{* 9 squares for larger bars or 12 squares for smaller bars that follow the nutrition info below.}

Notes

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.

Nutrition