Recipe: Caramel Oatmeal Chewies

This recipe for Caramel Oatmeal Chewies is from the folks at Quaker Oats. The recipe caught my eye because I was looking for an oatmeal cookie that wasn’t the usual Oatmeal Raisin cookie or Oatmeal Scotchies (since I just made them)…. the cookie jar needed filling… so on the hunt I went.

We really like caramel …. so when I saw the name on this cookie bar… I was interested… I had all ingredients… well… and the rest is history. This is one delicious cookie bar…. Thank you Quaker Oats!

I do have some tips though…

TIPS

I strongly suggest you line your pan with foil for an easy “lift out of the pan”…. I always do it and for some reason I didn’t this time… stupid mistake on my part…
Use Reynolds Wrap Release aluminum foil to line the pan so they don’t stick… the recipe calls for greasing the pan… I would still grease the foil just to be on the safe side.

The original recipe from Quaker Oats says to “refrigerate until firm”…. I’d like to clarify that… refrigerate for only a half hour…. I made the mistake of refrigerating overnight and it was a brick in the morning…. I had to let it warm up to room temperature to cut them…. they did soften up … but I won’t make that mistake again for sure.

The recipe says the salt is optional… I recommend adding it … it does enhance the flavors.

The nuts are not listed as optional… but they really are… I left them out and the recipe was fine.

I used jarred caramel ice cream topping as opposed to the kind in a squeeze bottle (like chocolate syrup).. I think you will have better results with the jarred topping… it’s a bit thicker than the squeeze bottle variety.

This recipe went together in minutes and makes a great lunch box dessert…. I hope you try it.







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Recipe: Caramel Oatmeal Chewies

All you need:

1 ¾ cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks)butter or margarine, melted
2 cups (12 ounce package) semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup nuts
1 cup caramel ice cream topping

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 13 x 9 baking pan with foil.

Grease the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the oats, 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in melted butter. Mix well.

Reserve 1 cup of the oat mixture and set aside.

Press the remaining oat mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and nuts (if using them).

In a small bowl, combine the caramel topping and ¼ cup flour. Stir well until the flour is completely incorporated.

Drizzle the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips and nuts leaving ¼ inch border around the edge dry.

Sprinkle the reserved oat mixture over the top.

Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Refrigerate until firm (recommended….only a half hour in the fridge).

Cut into bars.