Pillsbury Oatmeal Carmelita bars

I recently made this recipe for Pillsbury Oatmeal Carmelita Bars. Oh...Heaven help me. They were chocolaty, buttery, and gooey with caramel. They were so addicting I couldn't stop myself from eating them...one after another. If you're a dessert Junkie like me, BEWARE. You might not want to read on.

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Prep: 30 min.

Cook: 30 min.

Cool: 2 hours

Yield: 36 bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened (2 1/2 sticks)

Filling:

1 12.5 oz jar caramel ice cream topping (1 cup)

3 Tbl. all-purpose flour

16 oz pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 cup)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and butter.

I doubled this recipe when I made it so my mixing bowl is really, really full. 

Mix at low speed until crumbly.

Reserve half of crumb mixture (about 3 cups) for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture in bottom of greased pan. Bake for 10 min.

 
Meanwhile, prepare filling:

In a small bowl, combine caramel topping and 3 Tbl. flour, blend well.

Remove partially baked crust from oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture; 

Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. 

Return to oven; bake an additional 18-22 min. or until golden brown. Cool 1 hr. or until completely cooled. Refrigerate 1-2 hrs. or until filling is set.

Cool 1 hr. or until completely cooled. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until filling is set. Cut into bars.

Delicious with a cold glass of milk.