Best Oatmeal Carmelitas Bars

These oatmeal carmelitas bars are rich, chewy, and packed with sweet caramel, melted chocolate, and a buttery oat crumb crust. They're easy to make with simple ingredients, and every bite has the best mix of soft, gooey, and slightly crunchy texture. This is a great dessert bar recipe for holidays, bake sales, potlucks, parties, or any time you want a sweet homemade treat without making something fussy.

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Why this is the best oatmeal carmelitas bars recipe

It's a simple recipe. These easy oatmeal carmelitas bars use basic baking ingredients like oats, flour, brown sugar, butter, chocolate chips, and caramel, so you can make a bakery-style dessert without needing anything complicated. All of the ingredients can be found in most grocery stores.

Carmelita bars are very easy. You make one buttery oatmeal crumb mixture, press part of it into the pan, add the gooey caramel and chocolate layer, and sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture on top before baking. That's all there is to it!

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Oatmeal carmelitas tastes amazing! The soft caramel melts into the chocolate, while the oatmeal crust and topping bake into a chewy, buttery layer that makes these bars rich, sweet, and hard to resist.

Carmalita bars are great for holidays, family gatherings, cookie trays, school events, bake sales, and weekend desserts. These bars slice beautifully once cooled, so they're easy to serve, pack, and share.

Oatmeal carmelitas bars are easy to customize. You can add chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, sea salt, or shredded shredded coconut to the filling and extra chocolate chips and a drizzle of melted caramel or hot fudge sauce on top if you want them to feel extra special.

What you'll need to make the best oatmeal carmelitas bars

Equipment

Using parchment paper for this recipe is such a big help with this recipe! You can also use aluminum foil if you do not have parchment paper. You'll also need a baking dish (we used 9x13) and a large bowl, plus a rubber spatula and cooking spray or butter to grease the parchment.

I used an electric mixer to combine the crust ingredients.

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• Brown sugar: Be sure to pack the brown sugar as tight as you are able. You will be happy you did.
• Vanilla bean paste: I prefer vanilla bean paste to vanilla extract because the paste has a much stronger and richer vanilla flavor. Vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol and then removing the beans. Vanilla bean paste is made by mixing crushed vanilla beans into concentrated vanilla extract. You can use them interchangeably in equal amounts.
• Almond extract (optional): Adding a touch of almond extract brings in a special flavor with caramel and elevates the taste of the dough.
• Unsalted butter: Be sure to melt the butter before adding to the brown sugar. If you only have salted butter, you can use it too.
• All-purpose flour: Flour and oats make a great crust for these caramel oatmeal bars. You can use a cup-for-cup gluten-free baking mix in this recipe. Double check the oats to make sure they're also gluten-free (some are and some are not).
• Rolled oats: Use the old-fashioned oats or rolled oats. This type of oat brings the perfect consistency to this dessert. Instant or quick oats will not give you the right consistency for this delicious caramelitas bars.
• Baking soda: Makes the crust rise a bit.
• Kosher salt: A touch of salt helps balance the sweetness of the caramel. The shape of kosher salt gently salts foods and enhances their flavor, and has no iodine which can taste bitter.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate is a good balance of sweet and bitter chocolate. Dark chocolate would be excellent too. You could even experiment with bitter chocolate if you wanted. There is plenty of sweetness to balance the bitterness. 
• Caramel (caramel bits): For this recipe, we used Kraft Caramel Bits. You can use the individually wrapped squares or a high-quality caramel sauce that is rich and thick. Even though you'll melt caramel bits or squares, avoid the runny caramel sauces meant for ice cream. They will not set up properly in this recipe, and your bars will be a gooey mess.
• Heavy whipping cream: Combining heavy cream with melted caramel makes these oatmeal cookie bars so rich! It provides a delicious creamy caramel texture.

How to make easy orange pancakes

1. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Add brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, almond extract, and melted butter to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, blend on low speed until well combined.
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3. Next, add all-purpose flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and kosher salt to the wet ingredients. Blend until the mixture is well combined and forms a crumbly dough.
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4. Divide the dough into two portions, then press the first portion into the parchment-lined 9x13 baking pan. Bake the bottom layer of the dough for 10 minutes at 350ºF.
5. While the dough is baking, prepare the caramel and heavy cream mixture in a medium bowl by combining the caramel bits and heavy cream.
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   Microwave for 2 minutes, then stir. Microwave the caramel mixture in additional 30-second increments until the mixture is melted, creamy, and smooth.
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6. After the base has baked for 10 minutes, sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly over the warm dough, then pour caramel mixture evenly over the chocolate chips, leaving a little melted caramel sauce to use for drizzle at the end.
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7. Crumble the last half of the dough over the semisweet chocolate chips and melted caramel.
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   Place the carmelitas back in the oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
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8. Remove carmelitas from the oven and drizzle the remaining melted caramel evenly over the hot bars. Allow the carmelitas to cool completely to room temperature. Make sure the carmelitas are completely cool before cutting into 15 bars.

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Cook's Tips

Be sure to allow these carmelitas to cool completely before cutting. This can take a few hours. If you cut them too soon, you will find that the caramel is extremely hot inside and very sticky. The bars won't hold their shape and the top and bottom crusts will slide around and separate. You may use the refrigerator to speed up the cooling until the caramel center has had time to become firm.

Substitutions & variations

Caramel bits: You can use caramel squares. You can also use a premade caramel sauce as long as it is a thick and creamy sauce. A runny caramel sauce intended for ice cream will not work in this delicious dessert.

Oats: Rolled oats were used in this recipe. They may be labeled old fashioned oats, same thing. This type of oats adds a wonderful texture to the crust and adds heartiness to the crust. Don't use instant oats or quick oats in this recipe.

Chocolate chips: Chocolate chunks would be fun. Chop them and sprinkle them instead of chips. Substituting dark chocolate will bring a nice balance to the sweetness of this recipe. I don't recommend milk chocolate.

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Storing leftover carmelitas bars

Store the Carmelitas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Discard them if you see any mold. They will last a little longer in the refrigerator, but may get stale sooner.

To freeze, store in an airtight freezer storage container for up to 3 months. Be sure to thaw overnight on the counter before serving.

Check out more delicious caramel recipes

• Caramel Apple Cinnamon Muffins
• Caramel Turtle Brownies
• Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars
• Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
• Chocolate Turtle Cake
• Apple Strudel with Puff Pastry
• Apple Pie Ice Cream
• Homemade Cracker Jacks - Copycat Caramel Corn with Peanuts Recipe

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