Oatmeal Carmelitas are an incredibly indulgent, classic baked dessert oat bar with caramel and chocolate chips. The original recipe was a finalist in the 1967 Pillsbury Bake-Off competition. I’m excited to share with you a twist on this classic dessert with the addition of chewy dried cherries and, of course, my homemade caramel sauce. The combination of chocolate, cherries, caramel, and oats are surprisingly good. Let’s check it out!
Oatmeal Carmelitas: Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are commonly found in the pantry and fridge. You can make your own caramel sauce or use a commercial brand like Smucker’s caramel ice cream topping. My homemade version and the commercial brand make the same amount, so you would use all of what each produces. For the ingredients, the cookie base and topping include all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt (only if using unsalted butter), old fashioned or rolled oats, light or dark brown sugar, and salted or unsalted butter. In addition, the filling includes caramel sauce (homemade or store-bought ice cream topping). I’m using my homemade version in this post. Finally, you’ll need vanilla extract, chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet), and dried cherries.
Preheat Oven & Prepare Baking Dish
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-x13- inch baking dish with parchment paper. Use a pair of scissors to cut the paper in the corners down to the bottom of the pan. Overlap the flaps and trim off excess paper.
TIP: If you don’t have parchment paper, just grease the pan using butter, oil, or shortening. The paper helps to easily pull out the dessert to cut it into serving pieces.
Make the Oat Cookie Base & Topping
Combine the Fine Dry Ingredients
To a large bowl, add 240 grams (2 cups) of all-purpose flour, 4 grams (1 teaspoon) of baking soda, and 3 grams (½ teaspoon) of salt, only if you are using unsalted butter. I generally keep salted butter on hand, so that’s what I used in this post. Thus, I will not add any additional salt. Stir the mixture to combine.
Add Oats & Brown Sugar
Once combined add the thicker dry ingredients. Add 160 grams (2 cups) of old-fashioned or rolled oats and 324 grams (1½ cups packed) light or dark brown sugar. Stir again to combine. I find old-fashioned or rolled oats are best to use in this recipe, because they are thick enough to provide chewiness and texture. The difference between light and dark brown sugar is that dark brown sugar has a little more molasses in it giving it a deeper molasses flavor. I like either one in this recipe and use whatever I have on hand.
Blend in Butter
With all of the dry ingredients combined, add 283 grams (1¼ cups or 2½ sticks) of very soft, almost melted, butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter. Use an electric hand mixer to blend the mixture until crumbly.
TIP: If you don’t have an electric hand mixer, blend using a pastry cutter, a spoon (since the butter is soft), or use your hands to crumble the oat mixture.
Divide the Oat Crumble in Half
Remove ½ of the oat mixture (~3 cups) and set it aside in another bowl.
Press Half of the Oat Crumble in the Prepared Pan
Spoon the remaining oat mixture (~3 cups) into the prepared pan. Press the mixture down evenly to the edges and corners.
TIP: If the mixture is sticky, flour your hands or spray them with cooking spray.
Parbake the Pressed Oat Crumble Bottom
Bake the pressed mixture in the preheated oven for 10 minutes to parbake only. We are not baking the bottom crust fully yet.
Prepare the Caramel Filling
While the bottom crust is parbaking, prepare the caramel filling. In a measuring cup or small bowl, add 347 grams (~1 cup) of caramel sauce (which is a full batch of my homemade version or a full jar of ice cream topping). Add 5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) of vanilla extract and 22 grams (3 tablespoons) of all-purpose flour. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and no flour streaks remain. The purpose of the flour is to thicken the caramel, so it sticks and hangs on to the oat mixture base and topping without sliding off after it’s baked.
Remove Par-Baked Crust & Top with Remaining Ingredients
Pour on Caramel Sauce
Remove the par-baked crust from the oven. Notice it is still light in color and not fulling baked. Without delay, pour the caramel sauce mixture evenly over the crust to the corners and edges.
TIP: If the sauce is a little thick and not spreading on it’s own, use a spatula to smooth it out to the edges.
Scatter on Chocolate Chips, Cherries, & Remaining Oat Crumble
Divide & Scatter on Chocolate Chips & Scatter on Cherries
Divide the 160 grams (1 cup) of chocolate chips. You’ll need 120 grams (¾ cup) separated from 40 g (¼ cup) of chocolate chips. Take the 120 grams (¾ cup) of chocolate chips and scatter them evenly over the caramel. Reserve the remaining 40 g (¼ cup) of the chocolate chips for the end. Then scatter all of the 142 grams (5-ounce package or 1 cup) of dried cherries. You can also add ¾ cup of any chopped nut.
Scatter on Remaining Oat Crumble & Chocolate Chips
Scatter the remaining (3 cups) reserved oat crumble mixture evenly over the chocolate chips and cherries. Do not press the crumble down, let it sit on top as it will bake together. Finally, scatter the remaining 40 grams (¼ cup) of chocolate chips over the top for a visual “hello!” Chocolate is in the house 😊.
Bake & Cool
Bake
Return the baking dish to the oven and bake completely for another 22-25 minutes or until the edges are set. The center may still be a little jiggly.
Cool
Cool the dessert in the pan on a cooling rack for several hours to cool completely. The caramel needs to set or it will be too runny to cut into bars. If you need to cut into the dessert sooner, allow it to cool for an hour at room temperature, then place the pan in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Once the dessert has cooled down to room temperature, it can be cut into bars and served.
Remove the Dessert & Cut into Bars
Lift the parchment paper edges to remove the dessert from the pan onto a cutting board. Once cooled, the bars easily cut into desired serving sized. I prefer to cut 24 bars by cutting 6 rows down (cut the dessert in half and each half into 3rds) by 4 rows across.
Close Ups of the Oatmeal Carmelitas
Up close, you can see the dense bottom oat layer which is sturdy enough to carry the caramel, chocolate, and cherries. The middle layer consists of caramel, chocolate, and cherries. The top layer is the oat crumble with chocolate chips and caramel oozing up but firm.
Storage Suggestions
These bars store very well at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer. If the bars will be eaten within a few days, store them cut in a sealed container or bag at room temperature. You can also store them for a week or so in the fridge. For longer storage, place them in the freezer for up to 2 months. From frozen, just set them out on the counter to thaw for about an hour or stick them in the microwave if you can’t wait that long 😉.
Oatmeal Carmelitas: Final Thoughts
We love these bars. They are great any time of year. Since they are handheld, they are easily transportable for serving at parties, and church or work potlucks. I especially like them during the holidays. Add them to your holiday cookie platter or give them away as gifts. You can even play around with the dried fruit and nut combinations to fit the season. How about dried cranberries and pistachios?
Baker’s Perspective
These bars are so easy to make. While you can use commercial caramel topping for convenience, a homemade version is so good and such a treat. You can make the caramel days ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to make these bars. While there is an extra baking step to parbake the bottom crust, it’s only 10 minutes, and you’re busy prepping the caramel while it bakes. Thus, there’s no lost time during the preparation process. The remaining steps are simply pouring or scattering the toppings. The baking time is quite short, too for a large pan dessert. This is a fantastic make-ahead dessert since it needs time to cool to room temperature.
Taster’s Perspective
Yummy! I know I say this all the time; I just love food, especially sweets. On the first bite, I can taste the oats, caramel, chocolate, and cherries. I don’t think you can go wrong with that combination. The caramel is soft while the oat layer is dense and chewy. The chocolate, once cooled, is firmer than the caramel providing a different texture and flavor. I love the cherry addition as it adds an earthiness to the bars from of the cherry flavor. The cherries provide a chewy texture to the center that compliments the soft caramel and firmer chocolate. We really like the unusual cherry twist in both flavor and texture in these bars.
Check out my YouTube video on the details of making these Oatmeal Carmelitas. “Chocolate and Cherries Caramel Oat Bars: A Yummy Twist on Traditional Oatmeal Carmelitas!”
Chocolate and Cherries Caramel Oat Bars: Oatmeal Carmelitas with a Twist
Ingredients
Oatmeal Crumble Base & Topping:
- 240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 4 g (1 tsp) baking soda
- 3 g (½ tsp) salt only if using unsalted butter
- 160 g (2 cups) oats old fashioned or rolled
- 324 g (1½ cups packed) brown sugar light or dark
- 282.5 g (1¼ cups / 2½ sticks) butter (very soft, almost melted)) salted or unsalted (add salt if using unsalted)
Caramel Filling:
- 347 g (1 cup) caramel sauce homemade or store-bought caramel ice cream topping
- 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 22 g (3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 160 g (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips divided
- 142 g (5 oz pkg /1 cup) dried cherries like Mariani brand
- ¾ cup chopped nuts, optional almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-x13- inch baking dish with parchment paper.TIP: If you don’t have parchment paper, grease pan using butter, oil, or shortening.
- To a large bowl, add flour, baking soda, and salt (if using unsalted butter). Stir the mixture to combine.
- Add oats and brown sugar. Stir again to combine.
- Add butter and use an electric hand mixer to combine the mixture until crumbly. Remove ½ of the mixture (~3 cups) and set aside in another bowl.TIP: If you don’t have an electric hand mixer, blend using a pastry cutter, spoon, or use your hands until the mixture is crumbly.
- Spoon the remaining mixture (~3 cups) into the prepared pan. Press the mixture down evenly to the edges and corners.TIP: If the mixture is sticky, flour your hands or spray them with cooking spray.
- Bake the pressed oat mixture in the preheated oven for 10 minutes to parbake/blind bake only.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the caramel sauce, vanilla, and flour. Whisk until combined and smooth.
- Remove the par-baked crust. Pour the caramel evenly over the crust to the corners and edges. Scatter on evenly the 120 g (¾ cup) chocolate chips & all of cherries (and optional nuts). Scatter the remaining reserved oat crumble mixture evenly over the top. Do not press the crumble down, let it sit on top as it will bake together. Scatter the remaining 40 g (¼ cup) chocolate chips over the top.TIP: If the sauce is a little thick and not spreading on its own, use a spatula to smooth it out to the edges.
- Return the baking dish to the oven and bake another 22-25 minutes or until the edges are set. The center might still be a little jiggly.
- Cool in pan on cooling rack for several hours to cool completely. Or after an hour of cooling at room temperature, place pan in refrigerator for an hour or so. Once completely cooled, lift parchment paper edges to remove the dessert from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut into desired serving sizes.
Video
Notes
You might be interested in these other sweet treats.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Microwavable Cake
5-Minute Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake (Microwavable)
Argentine Alfajores Sandwich Cookies
Czech Palačinky: Thin Sweet Pancakes
Australian & New Zealand Pavlova
Coconut Flan: Gluten Free & Dairy Free
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