These indulgent caramelitas are full of silky-smooth caramel and rich chocolate chips that get sandwiched between a buttery oatmeal cookie crust! It’s an easy one bowl recipe that everyone is sure to love.
Why you’ll love caramelitas:
Caramelitas are like a soft and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that’s stuffed with gooey caramel! My favorite part of these bars are the chewy edges. When the caramel mixes with the oatmeal cookie crust it creates a buttery, chewy, rich edge that is completely irresistible!
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Melted butter
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Old-fashioned oats
- Baking soda
- Kraft caramels
- Heavy whipping cream
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Of all the flavor combinations out there, chocolate and caramel has to be one of my favorites! At first glance, this recipe may seem a little more involved than other cookies, but you’ll be shocked by how quickly they come together!
How to make the best caramelitas:
- Make the crust and topping: A quick oatmeal cookie dough is made in one bowl for the crust as well as the topping. Be sure to par-bake the crust for 10 minutes before assembling these caramelitas!
- Assemble: Melt the caramels with heavy cream until smooth. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the crust, then drizzle on the caramel. Top with the remaining oatmeal cookie dough and bake at 350 for 15 minutes!
- Cool and slice: Let these caramelitas cool completely before slicing to avoid a gooey mess! To speed up the process, transfer to the fridge. Once cooled, slice into 16 bars and serve!
Make these addicting caramel and chocolate bars for parties, holidays, bake sales or anytime you need to satisfy your sweet tooth! I promise the hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the bars to cool before enjoying!
My top tips:
- Prepare your pan with parchment paper! This is super important to prevent your caramelitas from sticking to the pan. With parchment paper, you can lift the bars right out of the pan, slice and serve!
- Use old fashioned oats rather than quick oats. Quick oats are smaller and more powdery than old fashioned oats. Using old fashioned oats give these bars a chewier texture and more structure for holding all that caramel and chocolate!
- I used Kraft caramels in this recipe but feel free to use Werther’s caramels as well. If you’re more of a caramel sauce fan, you can use a thick, jarred caramel (the kind for ice cream topping rather than caramel sauce from a squeeze bottle) in place of the individually wrapped caramels with heavy cream. You’ll need about 1 ¼ cups of caramel sauce.
- Its EXTREAMLY important to let the bars cool completely before slicing. If you slice them before they’re cooled, they’ll still taste delicious, but you’ll have a gooey mess on your hands! It may take 2-4 hours to cool at room temperature, but if you want to speed up the process, you can pop them in the fridge for an hour or two.
- This recipe easily doubles to feed a crowd. Double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13 pan for 32 bars.
Looking for more cookie bar recipes? Try these out!
Caramelitas
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup melted butter 1.5 sticks
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 35 Individually wrapped caramels kraft or werther's
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line your 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted butter with brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth, then sprinkle in flour, oats and baking soda. Mix until there are no streaks of flour remaining.
- Using your fingertips, press 1/2 of the oatmeal cookie mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
- While the crust bakes, melt the caramels and heavy cream together until smooth. Stovetop or microwave work well here.
- When the crust is done baking, evenly sprinkle on chocolate chips, then drizzle the melted caramel on top. Sprinkle the remaining oatmeal cookie mixture on top and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Let the bars cool completely before slicing into 16 squares. This ensures the bars will hold together when slicing.
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