Description
These Gooey Chocolate Caramel Bars are a delicious treat featuring a buttery oat crumb base topped with semisweet chocolate chips, crunchy pecans, and luscious caramel drizzle, baked until golden and gooey for the perfect dessert or snack.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups cold butter, cubed
- 1 jar (12 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
Toppings
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking.
- Make Crumb Mixture: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, quick-cooking oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut in the cold cubed butter using a pastry cutter or fingers until mixture becomes crumbly. Set half of this crumb mixture aside for the topping.
- Form Base Layer: Press the remaining crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of a greased 13×9-inch baking pan to create the base.
- Bake Base: Bake the base layer in the oven for 15 minutes until lightly golden.
- Add Toppings: Remove the pan from the oven and evenly sprinkle chocolate chips and chopped pecans over the baked base.
- Prepare Caramel Drizzle: In a small bowl, whisk together the caramel ice cream topping with the remaining 1/4 cup flour until smooth to thicken it slightly for drizzling.
- Assemble and Bake: Drizzle the caramel mixture evenly over the chocolate and pecans, then sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
- Cool Bars: Once baked, remove from oven and allow bars to cool completely on a wire rack for about 2 hours to set before cutting.
Notes
- For easier slicing, chill the bars in the refrigerator for 30 minutes after cooling.
- You can substitute walnuts or almonds for pecans if preferred.
- Use room temperature butter if you don’t have cold butter; the texture might be slightly different but still delicious.
- Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate for longer freshness.
- For a nut-free version, omit pecans and add extra chocolate chips or toffee bits.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 280 kcal
- Sugar: 22 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 35 mg