Oatmeal Carmelitas

We hardly ever use ice cream toppings but I had some leftover caramel topping from banana splits we had for Tory's birthday. Normally my ice cream toppings just sit in the fridge wasting space until I throw them out. I was looking through a cookbook that I got from my sister Heather and found this recipe. It is from her mother-in-law. I only had 1/2 cup of the ice cream topping left so I just halved the recipe. It made an 8x8 square pan that was just right. These are VERY sweet and one square is really all you'll want! Very easy recipe and very good. (And a great way to use up leftover ice cream topping!) Makes about 16 squares in the 8x8 size or 24-36 squares in the 13x9 size. I will post the recipe in its original 13x9 size and measurements.

Oatmeal Carmelitas


Crust:
2 c. flour
2 c. quick oats
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. softened butter


Filling:
1 c. caramel ice cream topping
3 Tbsp. flour
1 c. chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)


Crust: Grease pan. In large mixer bowl, mix all crust ingredients on low until crumbly. Press half of crumb mixture, about 3 cups, in bottom of 13x9 pan. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Filling: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix caramel topping and flour. Sprinkle partially baked crust with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle with caramel mixture and top with the other half of the crumb mixture. Bake another 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and then refrigerate for 1-2 hours until the filling is set. Cut into bars.

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