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Just made this recipe tonight and it turned out amazing! I can’t wait to try more recipes on your blog Lindsay. I love to bake and you are definitely inspiring me =)
Rachel Griess
Let me read your mind. You’re in love with these chocolate caramel oatmeal bars and their ooey-gooey-chocolate-caramel middle layer, tied for first place with the buttery-soft oatmeal cookie crust. Yes, yes you are.
Let me read your mind again. You’re not a caramel person.
First of all, that’s weird and you should reconsider. Secondly, this:
So now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about my absence from the internet the last few days, gooooing on weeks. The internet is weird, because it’s like after the initial phase of feeling like you’re going to shrivel up and die socially, you kind of want to stay gone from the internet. Do you know what I mean? And am I from another time period? because I always want to capitalize Internet.
Other than my brief internet encounter last week to give away some free spa money, Bjork’s been holding down things here on Pinch o’ Yum while I’ve been living up the rustic life in the Wisconsin Northwoods. aka laying on the dock. My brothers did their usual crazy things while my parents tried to keep up and Bjork and I read books and drank Arnold Palmers and ate too many of these bars. Family time.
I also went to our friends’ baby’s first birthday party.
And I should be done editing all the pictures I took around the time he turns 18. So definitely been busy.
But enough about my personal social life outside of the Internet with a capital I. Let’s talk about CARAMEL in all caps. Like what caramel looks like when lovingly poured over chocolate chips over buttery oatmeal crust.
Something about these bars is just so dang good. Like get outta the house or get in my belly good. I mean, you heard my girl Jill in the email at the beginning. She doesn’t even like caramel, but oh, this caramel. This caramel and these bars that have that magic power that draws you in and never lets you go. And do you want to hear a true story? I was shaking my head in awe as I wrote that part about the magic power. Official weird food blogger status: achieved.
This recipe comes from my mom’s recipe box, which is a cute little wooden box that is full of every kind of recipe hand-written on a card. The box itself is both totally priceless and a little bit frightening. She has about a million recipe cards floating around in there. The salads are in with the desserts, which are in with the casseroles, and op! here’s Grandma’s applesauce! I’ve been looking for that recipe card everywhere! And on, and on, and on. I spent a lazy afternoon just grabbing a stack of recipe cards out of that box and flipping through them, and I think I could do that for another whole week.
Speaking of recipe cards, this one says it’s from the Pluckers. I don’t know the Pluckers, but dear Pluckers, thank you to the moon and back for this most incredible ooey-gooey-can’t-stop dessert bar recipe. You nailed it.
Chocolate Caramel Oatmeal Bars
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 30 1x
Description
These chocolate caramel oatmeal bars have a sticky-sweet layer of melted chocolate and caramel over a oatmeal cookie crust. SO addicting!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 9 tablespoons salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 40 soft caramel candies
- 6 tablespoons milk or cream (I used heavy whipping cream)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Melt the butter, let it cool, and pour into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir (I just used a wooden spoon) until a soft dough forms. It should be just slightly crumbly. If the dough feels wet and heavy, add a little more flour.
- Press 3/4 of the dough into a 9×13 baking dish. Reserve the remaining 1/4 for topping. Bake for about 13 minutes or until the top is barely golden brown.
- While crust is baking, unwrap caramels and melt in the microwave with the cream. Stir until the mixture is smooth and pourable.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips over the baked crust. Pour the melted caramel over the chocolate chips. Crumble the remaining dough with your fingers (add a little more flour if it’s not crumbly enough) and sprinkle over the top of the bars. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the top layer is golden brown. Let stand for several hours or until the caramel is cooled.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate caramel oatmeal bars, oatmeal bars, chocolate caramel bars
I tried making this recipe as instructed but the oatmeal/flour dough never became dough. It stayed in little chunks. Is 9 tablespoons of butter correct?
These are AMAZING! I made them with white chocolate, my husbandās favorite. He loves them. And, this recipe requires only one bowl and no mixer. For being such a decadent cookie, the recipe was so easy. Thank you, Lindsay!
These turned out awful. Dry and the chocolate hardened into a rock. Are you sure its not supposed to be more than 9 tbs butter? I followed everything and it was super crumbly. Sad.
Thanks so much for letting us know, Jessy. Sorry the recipe didn’t turn out for you. We’ll have to retest this one.
My crust was a total flop. It didn’t stick together at all. Could it be because I used coarse rolled oats?
That may have been the issue since coarse oats are smaller, thus giving you more oats per 1 1/3 cups.
I donāt bake and I donāt like sweets except for twice a year and I just ate two huge bars. Yummy!
So glad you like the recipe, Kristen!
Have you tried this recipe with the 5 min magic vegan caramel sauce instead of the caramel candies and cream?
We haven’t yet, but that sounds yummy!
Your recipe said twice to add flour if the dough seemed wet. I found the dough to be very dry and would add more melted butter the next time I made these bars. Great flavor.
I have had this recipe for years & I’ve been planning to make these bars for a couple of Christmas gifts. I canNOT find the recipe, so panic! I’m sooo happy to have found your recipe ~ it is exactly the same as mine. These are always a big hit! Thank you for posting this!!!!
I Loved these bars! I made a half batch in a 8″x8″ pan because I had a small amount(about 1 cup) of homemade caramel sauce leftover from another dessert I made and wanted to use it up. I used this in place of the caramels and cream. They turned out great! My husband and I ate about 3/4 of it in one sitting;)
do you spray the dish?
ummm, was i supposed to oil the pan or something? It stuck to the pan pretty bad. I couldn’t really eat them. If I was supposed to do that I highly suggest adding it to the directions.
Made these last night. The dough was crumbly and very dry, which resulted in crumbly and very dry bars. š Next time for a recipe like this, I would combine the butter with the sugar first, then the non-flour dry ingredients, then just enough flour for the right consistency. I literally weighed the exact amount of butter and flour required, which may have been my undoing.
Looks awesome. QUESTION: can I substitute Ghirardelli chocolate sauce in place of the chcocolte chips and Ghiradelli Carmel sauce in place of the caramels + cream?
oops forgot to press 5 stars
Made these with my 4 yr old daughter last night & Today on Thanksgiving Everyone is asking for your recipe!!
I sampled them warm and SO DELICIOUS today they are room temp. but just as delicious!! I plan on making these again and adding Vanilla ice cream on top!! I bet that would be good together.
Thanks for sharing your family recipe. This was the 1st holiday dessert recipe My daughter actually helped from start to finish. I plan on making these again or my sons Cubscout Christmas party.
Thanks again!! 5 stars hands down!!
Very good recipe. For people who wonder about cutting them, here is a great tip someone gave me years ago for brownies and it works for these bars.
Cut them with a pastry cutter – the almost-square plastic gadgets. They cut sticky things beautifully.
Thanks for the tip, Christine! š
I lost my favorite recipe for chocolate, caramel, oatmeal bars and I am SO excited to read yours! It looks great. My recipe listed the caramel in ounces. I was thrilled when I found the unwrapped round caramel balls for baking this year! No unwrapping & eating half the caramels this time.
Do you an idea of how many ounces I should use?
Thanks so much. Can’t wait to bake.
Hi, Karie. An 11 oz bag of caramel bits will be just about equal to 40 wrapped caramel squares. Enjoy!
How many servings would you say this makes? I need to make 6 dozen treats for an event, so I’m trying to decide whether I would need to double or triple this recipe. Thanks!!
Hi, Katie! When we made these, we got 32 bars in a 9×13 pan. Of course it depends on how big you cut the bars, but my suggestion to you would be to triple the recipe.
I agree, I think I’ll triple it to be safe–and have some left over for myself, of course š
Hi from another Minnesotan. Funny, my mom also has this recipe written down on a notecard in her little wooden recipe box. Wonder if she knows the Pluckers too…ha! Anyway it was fun to come across this recipe, I make it occasionally and it’s always a hit. I was just being too lazy to walk downstairs and look up the recipe card I copied from my mom. I’m too lazy to unwrap the caramels so I just use Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel Topping (it’s THICK) and it works great.
Great tip, Rachel!
These bars are amazing! My crust looks like it came out a little more crumbly than yours, but it is still delish. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m living overseas and can’t source the caramels. I’m thinking of trying these bars with a homemade caramel sauce but wonder if it would be too runny. Any tips?
Hi, Karen! I’m not an expert on homemade caramel, but you should be able to make caramel that’s not in the form of a sauce. Here is an example to try: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/foolproof-no-stir-homemade-caramels-with-step-by-step-tutorial/. I would suggest trying to make a thicker caramel versus a sauce, because a sauce would likely be too runny for the bars.
Just made this recipe tonight and it turned out amazing! I can’t wait to try more recipes on your blog Lindsay. I love to bake and you are definitely inspiring me =)
Glad you like them, Rachel!
Making these to enter into OCFair. I’ll let you know if I win anything!!!
Awesome! Good luck, Mary!
This recipe is very close to my mother in laws. Thanks for the encouragement.
Weekly I buy from local bakers but thought I should step up for once. Searched for a oatmeal caramel bar recipe and found your blog. Made a double batch and started with a gigantic one. Delicious but more filling than a meal! Decided to cut in tiny squares and took to 2 events. STAR dessert at both! Shared your recipe and link with everyone. Planning to make the soft chocolate chip cookies tomorrow.
That’s awesome, Sally! Hope you enjoy the cookies as well! š
I found your website yesterday and so glad I did – this was the first recipe I tried, and its over the top amazing! So simple and indulgently delicious – crispy crunchy base, topped with a fudgey chocolate chewy caramel! Going to try it the next time with some dessicated coconut in the base, and some chopped walnuts sprinkled over the caramel. 5 stars, thank you!
thanks Christina! Love hearing that!