original recipe for the caramel here
original recipe for the caramelitas here
Ingredients
For the Caramel
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (36-40% butterfat content)
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup (60 ml) light corn syrup
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
pinch of salt
For the Cookie/Bar
¾ cup Butter (softened)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1 and 1/2 cup Old-Fashioned Oats (do not use quick oats)
1 and 1/2 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/8 teaspoon Salt
Caramel made from recipe above, or 40 caramels from the store unwrapped
⅓ cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
For the Caramel (Do this at least an hour before the bars): Line a bread pan with parchment paper. Cut butter into cubes and melt with cream in the microwave until butter is all melted. Mix the salt into this and set to the side of the stove.
In a medium pot, add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Put on stove at medium heat until it reaches a boil. Put lid on pot for a minute to help wayward sugar slide back down in the mixture. Take the lid off and start measuring the temperature with a candy thermometer. Cook it to 320 degrees F. Once it reaches 320 degrees, pour in the cream/butter mixture while stirring constantly. Now cook until the temperature comes back up to 240 degrees F. Immediately remove and pour into prepared bread pan to cool (or just remove from heat and leave in pot to cool).
For the Bar: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9X9 pan with parchment paper. Get the caramel you made, or unwrap the store-bought caramels and put in a pot with cream. Put on low to medium heat and stir it occasionally until the caramel and cream are melted and mixed together. You can do this while you mix up the cookie part of the bars. Once melted together, turn off heat.
In a large bowl, use hand mixer to combine the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Now fold in the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.
Use half of the batter and press in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Pull the pan out and pour the caramel over the baked portion. Carefully portion the rest of the batter over the top of the caramel, covering the top the best you can. Now bake for 13 to 17 more minutes.
You can consume immediately (if done, it will be mostly liquid, but goes well over ice cream!), or let it cool for a couple hours.
Optional: Sprinkle chocolate chips over the first baked crust before pouring caramel on top. I prefer my caramelitas with just the caramel, but to each their own!
