Caramel Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
These caramel chocolate chip oat bars are gooey, chewy, and utterly delicious. With layers of soft caramel and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, they’re the perfect mashup of sweet and salty flavors and textures.
Many recipes take weeks (or even months) to get perfect and make it on this website, but not these cookie bars! I dreamed up these caramel chocolate chip oat bars, tested them, and rushed to get this article written all within a one week period. That should tell you HOW GOOD THEY ARE.
I wondered what would happen if I took my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, turned them into cookie bars, and stuffed them with caramel. And, wow. They’re gooey, chewy, very rich, and completely irresistible. They’re a must-bake!
Table of Contents
- What's in these caramel chocolate chip oat bars
- Ingredients you'll need
- Step by step instructions
- Recipe tips & FAQs
- More cookie bars
- Get the recipe
What’s in these caramel chocolate chip oat bars
These cookie bars aren’t revolutionary, and they kind of like “caramelitas”, but not quite. They’ve got 3 distinct layers:
- Chocolate chip oatmeal cookie dough pressed into the bottom of a baking dish.
- Melted caramel drizzled evenly on top.
- More cookie dough and extra chocolate chips scattered over the caramel.
The gooey caramel layer stays separate, so you get a gooey soft center in every bite. I opted for store-bought caramels for this recipe to keep it easier, and believe me, these caramel chocolate chip oat bars tasted plenty homemade and special!
Ingredients you’ll need
Find the full recipe at the end of this post! But here’s an overview of what you’ll need:
- Salted butter: You can use unsalted, but I love how using salted butter in cookies punches up the flavor.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour, baking soda and salt
- Old fashioned oats (not quick-cooking!)
- Ground cinnamon: We’ll add just a hint.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Packaged caramels: Give Kraft caramels a little squeeze in the bag to check that they’re slightly soft and give a little bit (that means they’re fresher!). Werther’s Original Soft Caramels or Peter’s Caramel are naturally softer and a great alternative to Kraft.
- Evaporated milk: For melting the caramel layer.
Step by step instructions
- Make cookie dough: It starts with a simple “drop cookie” dough made with the creaming method. We cream the butter and sugars, then add vanilla and eggs one at a time, and finally the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.
- Press 2/3 of cookie dough in pan. Make it easy and first scoop the dough evenly into your pan (instead of just dumping it in a pile in the center), then use the greasy butter wrappers to flatten into an even layer.
- Melt caramel. Warm caramels and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium low heat, stirring as they soften and melt. This will take roughly 7-10 minutes.
- Add caramel layer. Pour caramel while its warm on top, and spread it as needed to it covers the cookie dough.
- Top with remaining cookie dough. Drop pieces of leftover dough over the caramel, and add more chocolate chips on top.
- Bake. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 25 minutes till the tops of the bars are lightly browned.
- Cool. It’ll take several hours for the bars to set up and cool so they slice cleanly. If you can’t wait, cut them while they’re still warm (and messy) and serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
baking tip:Line your pan with parchment paper overhang
When baking anything in a square, rectangle or loaf pan (think brownies, bars, breads, etc.) line it with parchment paper so there’s a few inches of overhang on either side. Not only will this prevent sticking, but you can use the overhanging parchment as a sling to easily lift your goodies out of the pan for slicing.
Let breads cool only for a few minutes before transferring them out of the pan to a wire rack to cool completely, but let other desserts cool completely so they’re sturdy enough to lift without buckling. Then transfer to a cutting board and slice. No more messing up a slice trying to dig it out of the pan!
Recipe tips & FAQs
- What are the best caramels to use? Can I use caramel sauce? Do not use caramel sauce in this recipe, as it’s not thick enough and will essentially melt into the cookie dough (you won’t get that separate caramel layer). I tested this recipe with Kraft caramels, but Werther’s Original Soft Caramels or Peter’s Caramel are other great options.
- Can I bake in a 9×13-inch pan? I have not tested this recipe with other size pans. Baking in a 9-inch square pan yield nice thick tall bars. Layers will be thinner and not as distinct in a 9×13-inch pan.
- Be sure to measure flour correctly! All of my recipes are tested using the spoon and level method (more info through that link). These keeps the bars soft and chewy and not too dry or cakey.
- Slice into 2-inch squares. These bars are very rich! So slice them on the smaller side. You’ll get about 25 bars. If your knife gets too sticky, wipe it with warm water.
- Storage instructions. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll keep for several days.
More cookie bars
Get the recipe
Caramel Chocolate Chip Oat Bars
These caramel chocolate chip oat bars are gooey, chewy, and utterly delicious. With layers of soft caramel and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, they’re the perfect mashup of sweet and salty flavors and textures.
Ingredients
Chocolate chip oat cookie dough layers:
- 1 cup (226 grams) butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup (213 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (297 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats , not quick cooking
- 1 ½ cups (200 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips , divided
Caramel layer:
- 11 oz (311 grams) wrapped caramels (one Kraft caramels package, see Notes)
- ¼ cup (56 grams) evaporated milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper with overhanging sides.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or in large bowl with hand-held mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add vanilla and mix until well combined.
- In medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture all at once and mix on low until combined. Stir in most of the chocolate chips (reserving some for topping the bars).
- Place unwrapped caramels in a saucepan with the evaporated milk and set over medium low heat. Stir occasionally as the caramels melt. Caramels will take about 7-10 minutes to melt, stir until smooth. (Once caramel is melted, keep warm on low if you're not ready for it. Do not let it cool as it hardens immediately away from the heat.)
- While caramels melt, press about 2/3 of the cookie dough into the prepared pan. (Drop portions of the dough spaced evenly in the pan, instead of just dumping it all into the center. Then use leftover butter wrappers to easily press into a flat even layer.)
- Once caramel is melted, pour over the cookie dough in the pan. If needed, use a spatula to spread the caramel to the edges of the pan.
- Scatter clumps of remaining cookie dough over the caramel, and add reserved chocolate chips on top.
- Bake until edges and tops of cookie dough are lightly golden, about 25-28 minutes. Bars will still be plenty soft, but will set up as they cool.
- For the cleanest slices, let the bars cool completely to room temperature for 2-3 hours. If you'd rather serve them warm, serve hot from the oven and add vanilla ice cream if you want!
Notes
- This recipe was tested with Kraft caramels (Give them a little squeeze in the bag to check that they’re slightly soft and give a little bit, that means they’re fresher!). Werther’s Original Soft Caramels or Peter’s Caramel are naturally softer and a great alternative to Kraft. Do not use caramel sauce.
Calories: 269kcal, Carbohydrates: 37g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 35mg, Sodium: 169mg, Potassium: 138mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 22g, Vitamin A: 261IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?I’d love to hear about it! Leave a rating and review below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram @completelydelicious with #completelydelicious.
