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
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