Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Traveling Oatmeal Carmelitas

Summer time means travel time. Unfortunately, with the cost of plane tickets and bills to be paid, our travel this summer is limited to places in drivable distances with the exception of a few east coast weddings where attendance is a must.

My friends and family are very important to me and being half way across the country means I don't get to see them as much as I would like to. It turns out (believe it or not) that plane tickets for sweets are much cheaper than for people, which means they'll be traveling a lot more this summer to see my friends and family... wherever they may be.

I've been meaning to send some sweets to my friend Lauren (or Flax as we like to call her) for a long time now... she requested something ooey, gooey and crunchy.. just like her personality ;) So what sweet embodies all of those descriptors? Oatmeal Carmelitas

Ooey and gooey from the caramel and chocolate and just a little crunchy from the oatmeal crust. Perfect.

Oatmeal Carmelitas 
Oven: 350 Bake time: 25 minutes (total)
8x8 baking dish 

1 cup AP flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping 
3 TBS flour

Preheat oven to 350,
Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt, brown sugar.
Pour in melted butter and mix until combined.
Press half of mixture into baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.

While oatmeal mixture is baking, mix caramel topping and flour in a small bowl until blended.
After 10 minutes, remove oatmeal mixture from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and drizzle with caramel mixture.
Top with remaining oatmeal mixture.
Place back in the oven for 15 minutes, until oatmeal mixture is golden brown.

Make sure you give these bad girls a good long while to cool in order to set properly or you'll get a a gooey mess!

Happy Baking!

And make sure to check out Flax's pictures as she has fun around D.C. with the Traveling Sweets.