My husband adores these little bars- so I set out to perfect the recipe!
Carmelita Bars
1 cup flour
1 cup oatmeal
3/4 c butter- melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
Combine the above ingredients until crumbly. Press half the mixture into the bottom of a glass 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup caramel ice cream topping
3 tbsp flour
Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot crust. Mix caramel topping with flour. Drizzle over chocolate chips. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the caramel topping. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until golden. Middle will be soft but not doughy. Chill and then cut into bars
Additional tips and alterations:
No caramel sauce on hand...no worries! It will taste fine with just the chocolate chips, but I would up the amount to 1 1/4 cups.
And feel free to substitute butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips instead of the caramel sauce. 2/3 cup chips. And don't bake as long. You want them to be chewy when they cool. So for the second trip back in the oven limit it to 17-20 minutes.
I've also made a batch using whole wheat flour in the crumbles. Can barely taste a difference. But don't substitute when adding to the caramel sauce. You will want white flour for that...it's only 3 T so it's all good! :)
Enjoy!
