Carmelitas
Carmelitas are a delicious cookie bar loaded with chocolate and caramel! They are soft and chewy layered bars are dripping with caramel, Heath toffee bars (chunks), and stuffed with both milk and dark chocolate. Don’t forget the oat layers-as they make the ultimate combo of a brownie and a cookie, with a sprinkle of flake salt!
Carmelitas are my absolute, hands-down favorite dessert. These bars hold a lot of nostalgia for me, because my mom made them for Christmas and special occasions, for neighbor gifts, and teacher gifts. They’re also great bake sale treats or a perfect dessert to serve for a crowd for game day or any holiday.
Carmelitas
If you’re like me and adore the irresistible combination of chocolate and caramel, then these bars are for you! They are basically an oatmeal cookie bar made with melted chocolate and gooey, rich caramel, sandwiched between two buttery oat layers.
These bars freeze beautifully, so we always double the batch. If you love cookie bars in general, you may want to try our Toasted Coconut Bars (otherwise known as Magic Bars) or Toll House Bars.
Why I love this recipe
- Easy recipe – we use caramel from a jar!
- These Carmelitas freeze beautifully.
- We love to make these for game day – they get gobbled up every time.
- Oh so good with a cold glass of milk for the ultimate treat.
Gather these ingredients
- Salted butter
- Dark brown sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Baking soda
- All-purpose flour (gluten-free flour works, too)
- Old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
- Milk chocolate chips
- Semi sweet chocolate chips
- Heath toffee bits
- Caramel sauce from a jar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Flaked sea salt
How do you make Carmelitas?
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 8×8 pan with cooking spray, and then line with parchment paper.
- Using your stand mixer, in a large bowl cream together the butter, dark brown sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
- Add in salt, baking soda, flour and oats, mixing until combined.
- Take the 8×8 pan and press half of the dough evenly. Use your fingers to press it into the corners. Bake for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a microwave dish, add the caramel and microwave for about 30 seconds, checking and stirring, and then 30 seconds again. Continue until melted and mixed together.
- As soon as the bars come out of the oven, sprinkle with the chocolate chips and toffee bits and spread evenly with a spatula (these will melt and be spreadable). Then add the warm caramel sauce on top of the chocolate.
- Take the remaining oatmeal dough and add spoonfuls on top of the chocolate. It’s okay if not even, it will bake out evenly when placed back in the oven.
- Place back in the oven and bake 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are a golden brown and the caramel will be bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaked salt.
- Allow to set for 1-2 hours before cutting into the bars. You can cut them into squares and pop back in the microwave to soften/heat up a bit.
- Serving: They are delicious warm! Try them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tips and substitutions:
- Caramel sauce: Optional to use 3/4 cups of homemade caramel sauce for the caramel layer; just be sure it is a thick sauce like a hot caramel topping. TIP: if using homemade sauce, If the sauce is runny, you can whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour so it thickens during baking. If it’s too thick, add a bit more cream.
- Double the recipe and bake in a 9×13-inch pan instead of an 8×8-inch baking pan.
- Pan sizes: We recommend an 8×8-inch square pan, but if you use a 9×9-inch square pan, the bars will be slightly thinner, and baking time should be reduced by 5 minutes.
- Parchment paper is recommended so the dessert bars are easy to remove from the pan. TIP: See the photos. Leave an overhang of parchment paper to easily lift out the entire slab of bars for cutting on a cutting board.
- Replace the vanilla extract for coconut extract – it’s actually quite good.
- Swap out the chocolate chips for your favorite brands or flavors.
- Cooling cookie bars: It’s essential to allow the bars to cool so you can cut them into clean slices, otherwise it’s quite sticky and messy.
- Oats: Do not use instant or quick oats.
- Caramel Spreading: Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the melted caramel evenly over the chocolate chips.
- Oatmeal Crumble: When sprinkling the remaining oatmeal mixture over the caramel layer, try to spread it out evenly for balanced flavor in each bite. But it will eventually all come together when baking.
Serving
Allow to set for 1-2 hours before cutting into the bars. You can cut them into squares and pop back in the microwave to soften/heat up a bit.
They are delicious served warm! Try them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Storage
These oatmeal caramel bars will keep well in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
You can freeze up to 3 months!
Try these delicious bars (recipes) while you are here:
- Banana Cheesecake Bars
- Sugar Cookie Bars
- Oreo S’mores Bars
- Our newest White Chocolate Pistachio Bars
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Get the Recipe:
Carmelitas
Ingredients
- ¾ cup salted butter
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, gluten-free flour works, too
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup Heath toffee bits
- 6 ounces caramel sauce from a jar, about ¾ cup
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- flaked sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 8×8 pan with cooking spray, and then line with parchment paper.
- Using your stand mixer, in a large bowl cream together the butter, dark brown sugar and vanilla until fluffy.
- Add in salt, baking soda, flour and oats, mixing until combined.
- Taking the prepared baking pan, press half of the dough evenly at the bottom. Use your fingers to press it into the corners. Bake for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a microwave dish, add the caramel and microwave for about 30 seconds, checking and stirring, and then 30 seconds again. Continue until melted and mixed together.
- As soon as the bars come out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips and toffee bits and spread evenly with a spatula (the chocolate will melt and be spreadable). Then drizzle with the warm caramel sauce over the chocolate.
- Take the remaining oatmeal dough and add spoonfuls on top of the chocolate. It’s okay if not even, it will bake out evenly when placed back in the oven.
- Place back in the oven and bake 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are a golden brown and the caramel will be bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaked salt.
- Allow to set for 1-2 hours before cutting into the bars. You can cut them into squares and pop back in the microwave to soften/heat up a bit.
- Serve warm! Try them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
