Chocolate Caramel Oat Bars

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Not to bore you with excuses as to why I haven’t been blogging lately, but I’ve been busy! The weather is gorgeous, I’m going out with friends, and I have an awesome new guinea pig boyfriend! (So far he has liked everything I’ve baked, he’s a good guy.)

Anyway, as you probably know by now, I love anything oat, chocolate, and caramel so I was excited to try these. Apparently something has happened to my taste buds (too much sour candy?) because I didn’t find these terribly exciting. I tried them warm, chilled, and at room temp and while I didn’t think they were bad, I didn’t think they were amazing either. However–my boyfriend and coworkers thought they were delicious, and all day at work people were saying they definitely ranked up there when it comes to treats I’ve brought into the office. So ignore me and make these. You will make people happy.

Oat Base Ingredients
3/4 cup (3.4 oz) all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups quick cooking oats
1 generous pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
6 oz (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup chopped chocolate

Filling Ingredients
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups Kraft caramel bits or 32 unwrapped caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil.

Mix the flour, oats, salt, baking soda and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl. Add butter and stir with a spoon or mix with fingers until mixture is thoroughly mixed – dough should just start to come together. Reserve a little less than half of the mixture and put it in the refrigerator. Press remaining oat mixture into bottom of pan and bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Make caramel filling. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Add the caramel bits and stir to coat with butter. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until caramel is melted. Pour it over the base.

Sprinkle chilled reserved crumb mixture over top and bake for 10-12 minutes or until top layer is cooked. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Let cool completely, then lift from pan and cut with a Chef’s knife.

Makes 16 squares.

Recipe adapted from Cookie Madness.

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