Carmelitas for a Crowd

Hello everyone!! Today I'm sharing my "go to" cookie bar recipe with you -

CARMELITAS!  Every time I make it for a function, everyone wants the

recipe!! It's perfect for any parties or get togethers, and you never have to

worry about bringing the leftovers home, because there won't be any!!

This is a really easy recipe! The hardest part for me is opening all those

caramels! I always recruit help for that!!

Any Bar Cookie can be Fancied up for a Tea Party simply by

cutting them into smaller squares and placing them into pretty

Petits Four or cupcake liners, which I've done here. 

CARMELITAS

THE DOUGHMAKERS COOKBOOK

Makes 54 Bars

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups quick oats

3 3/4 cups AP flour

2 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 pound (4 sticks) plus 4 tbsp butter, melted

2 pounds caramels

8 tbsp half-and-half

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chip morsels

(2 cups chopped pecans - optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the quick oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking 

soda in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the melted butter

and mix well. Divide the oatmeal mixture in half. Press one half

of this dough into an ungreased 13X18-inch sheet cake pan. 

Bake for 10-14 minutes, until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, melt the caramels and half-and-half in a 2 quart

microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high at 1 minute intervals,

stirring in between, until smooth and creamy. Reserve about

1/3 of the caramel mixture and pour the remaining over the

oatmeal mixture. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel.

Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture on top and drizzle with

the reserved caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake 12 minutes more, until

light golden brown. Cool the Carmelitas completely before

slicing into 2-inch bars. (**The bars freeze well for up to

1 month.)  Lining a pan of bar cookies with parchment

paper will make it easier to remove them to the work

surface where they can be cut more precisely.

This recipe can be halved if you don't need quite so many

bars!

I've been baking a lot lately, including Tea Party sweets for 120 ladies,

and Carmelitas for a Graduation Party!!

The Tea Party was lovely and each table was beautifully decorated by

a group of ladies who brought their own china and tableware from home.

I unfortunately didn't get many pictures - most turned out blurry because

I was in such a hurry!! I only got one pre-party photo of the Lemon Tea

Cookies that I made!! Here are some of the pictures.....

The tables were beautiful, don't you think?!

So glad you stopped by!! Hope you have a chance to try the recipe!!