Foodie Friday Link Up~ Carmelitas

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For this Foodie Friday I am sharing something delicious!

But first, a short back story....

The Credit Union that I used to work for, and the Hubs still works for used to bring 

in catered food from a delicious local sandwich shop. 

It was seriously the best food. Amazing bread, salad and treats.

They had these caramel, oatmeal, chocolate chip bars that were simply amazing.

But if you didn't grab one right away, you didn't get one because people would hoard them!

So I have since tried to find a recipe for something similar with no luck, until recently.

On Pinterest I found this picture and followed the link to Lulu the Baker and her

tale of the Carmelitas. This pictures looks pretty close to what I've been looking for

and I finally made these yesterday!

Source: Lulu the Baker

The recipe:

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

The process: 

Mix caramels and cream in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. 

In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. 

Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. 

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. 

Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. 

Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. 

Put back in the oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. 

Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

 Caramels with cream

remaining ingredients mixed together

Bottom baked, and chips added

Add caramel

Add remaining oatmeal mixture, and bake!

 You can put these in the fridge to cool if you are presses for time,

but they should be served at room temperature.

For a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.

Here is the verdict: 

These are seriously delicious!

They are not quite the same as the ones I had before, 

but they must have the same basic ingredients, and 

it works for what I want. 

What I'd do different next time?

The recipe didn't say to spray the pan, so I didn't

and the bottom was stuck a little. So spray the bottom of the pan!

Also, next time I will use a 9x11 pan to make them a little thinner.

They were just a little too thick for me.

One last thing: you cook these for 15-20 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

The middle looks mushy and not done. This fooled me a little and mine were a little extra done 

because I kept cooking a little longer! But they will be done after the time above!

Seriously, try these! They are rich, but delicious!