Carmelitas cookie bars are a rich layered treat made with oatmeal, nuts, chocolate, caramel and crumble crust. Each bite is a perfect blend of chewy, sweet, salty and nutty.
There's something special about the combination of chocolate, salted caramel and nuts. Sweet, salty and nutty. It's truly one of my favorite flavor combinations. And thanks to the old-fashioned rolled oats, we can almost call these Carmelitas cookie bars healthy. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Adding oats doesn't make these Carmelitas bars healthy. But, it does make them extra yummy! I mean, who can resist chocolate, caramel and nuts sandwiched in between two layers of oat cookie crumble? Not me.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Oats
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
- Salted butter
- Pecans
- Walnuts
- Chocolate chips or chunks
- Store bought or homemade salted caramel sauce
- Baking soda
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Combine the flour, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl and stir well. Next, add the oats, brown sugar, white sugar and melted butter to the mixing bowl and mix until combined.
Step 2: Place half of the crust mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and press into tan even layer. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
Step 3: Sprinkle pecans and walnuts evenly over the baked bottom crust.
Step 4: Next, sprinkle the chocolate chips/chunks evenly over the nuts.
Step 5: Pour the salted caramel sauce evenly over chocolate chips/chunks.
Step 6: Crumble the remaining crust on top. Bake the Carmelita bars for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Substitutions
- Nuts - you can substitute your favorite nuts. Pecans are the most common nuts used in Carmelitas. I always have walnuts on hand though, so I typically use a mix of half pecans and half walnuts. However, you can use a single nut, a combination of nuts, or leave the nuts out. The nuts part of this recipe is totally flexible.
- Vegan - you can easily make these vegan by substituting vegan chocolate chips and vegan caramel sauce and using vegan sugar.
- Gluten Free - you can substitute a one-for-one gluten free flour for the all purpose flour.
Storage
Store any leftover oatmeal caramel bars in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Next Level Tips
- Many recipes for Carmelita bars involve unwrapping and melting caramel chews. That is time consuming and just doesn't taste as amazing as caramel sauce. I highly recommend using my homemade salted caramel sauce recipe for the caramel layer. It's simply divine and really takes this dessert to the next level.
FAQ
No, you can easily skip the nuts layer.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Carmelitas
Equipment
- 9x13 baking pan
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup salted butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- 10 ounces chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 cup jarred or homemade salted caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to a mixing bowl and stir well. Add the oats, brown sugar, white sugar and melted butter to the mixing bowl and mix until fully combined.
- Place half of the crust into the baking pan and press down into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven.
- Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the baked crust.
- Next, sprinkle the chocolate chips/chunks evenly over the nuts.
- Heat the caramel sauce for 15-30 seconds in the microwave to make it pourable. Pour evenly over chocolate chips.
- Crumble the remaining crust mixture on top of the caramel sauce. Return the baking pan to the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes until the top is lightly golden brown.
- Allow the bars to completely cool before removing them from the pan and cutting.
Notes
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup salted butter, melted
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup pecans
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 5 ounces chocolate chips (half bag)
- ½ cup store bought or homemade salted caramel sauce
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Wendy says
These were a total hit for Super Bowl Sunday! I highly recommend the homemade Carmel sauce…. game changer!!
Tracy @ Next Level Baker says
So happy they were a hit! The homemade salted caramel sauce is one of my very favorites. So yummy!