Gooey Carmelitas

What’s not to love about Gooey Carmelitas?! Layers of cookie dough, salted caramel, and chocolate all together in one dessert! And even though at first glance carmelitas may seem complicated, this recipe has a ton of shortcuts to make it easy to make. (Hint: The salted caramel sauce starts by melting a bag of premade caramels and the cookie dough comes together in one bowl, no mixer required.)

Gooey Carmelitas have quickly become a favorite in our house, I think you’re going to love them too!!

I first read about Carmelitas in one of my favorite new cookbooks, Even Better Brownies. I’ve talked about this book before…even though it seems unassuming from the cover, it’s full of amazing recipes.

I adapted my Carmelitas recipe from this book, and made them a little more user friendly. I’m sure his homemade caramel layer is to die for, but it’s just not something I have time to make most nights. This recipe comes together really fast, which is really dangerous considering how delicious it is! Now I can make it every night of the week – haha.

The Dough

To make this recipe even more simple, there is no creaming of butter and sugar like most cookie recipes. Start by melting some better and stirring all of the ingredients together at once. So easy.

Press half of the dough into the bottom of an 8 x 8” pan. The layer will be very thin, but the baking soda will give the dough a nice lift as it bakes.

Let bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.

The Salted Caramel

While the bottom layer bakes in the oven, place an 11 ounce bag of caramels and some cream in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the caramels have melted. Add a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt and remove from heat.

Assembling the Bars

Remove the bottom layer of the bars from the oven and sprinkle with 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Pour the salted caramel layer over the chocolate chips.

And crumble the remaining cookie dough over the top.

Bake until lightly browned on top and the salted caramel is bubbling at the edges.

Let sit 4 hours, or overnight, before slicing. The bars are very moist and gooey and take a little extra time to set up. Enjoy!!

Gooey Carmelitas

Cookie:
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Caramel Filling:
1 (11 ounce) bag of caramels, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch of Kosher or Sea Salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray and 8 x 8” pan with nonstick cooking spray.

To make the cookie batter: In a large bowl combine the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir everything together with a fork until it comes together. Press half of the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. The layer will be very thin, but that’s okay it will puff up as it bakes.

To make the caramel filling: While the bottom layer bakes, place the caramels and whipping cream in the bottom of a small saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring often, until the mixture is a soft, pourable caramel. Do not let the mixture boil. Remove from heat and add a pinch of kosher or sea salt.

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips, pour the caramel over the chocolate chips, and crumble the remaining oat and flour mixture over the top of the chocolate and caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake fr 15-20 more minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set on a cooking rack. Let cool several hours, or even overnight, before slicing the bars. So good!!

If you like this recipe, you might also like: Oatmeal Fudge Bars!