Caramelitas

The picture says it all folks!  These bars are just about the best thing since sliced bread, since PB&J, since peanut butter and chocolate for goodness sake!!!  As per my usual, I'm a HUGE fan of Caramel!(with some chocolate mixed in there too;)  These Caramelitas are buttery-rich and chewy!  Enjoy!

The line up for the crust and topping:
2 cups flour
2 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups butter, softened


For the filling:
1 (14 oz) bag craft caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips(semi-sweet is obviously fine to use)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan or baking dish.  Combine all of the crust/topping ingredients in a large bowl and mix at low speed until crumbly.  Divide in half.  Press 1/2 evenly into your pan.  Then  put in the oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt and combine together the caramels and evaporated milk.  Once melted and mixed well, take off the heat and mix in the flour.  
Remove partially baked crust from the oven.  Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and drizzle the caramel evenly over the chocolate chips.  Sprinkle the other half of the topping over the caramel.  Then back into the oven for roughly 20 minutes or until the top is slightly golden.  Cool on a rack for 1 hour and then refrigerate until filling it set.  
These are soooo dang good, I had to start bagging them up and giving them to friends!  Otherwise, and this is no joke, I would've consumed the entire pan myself!  Yes, I admit, being a nursing mother makes me want to eat a lot of really rich and decadent things!  In really LARGE quantities!:)

  
Original recipe can be found here!
Modified by Kara
Images by Kara