Description
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Oat Cookie Bars combine the chewy texture of oatmeal cookie bars with a rich homemade salted caramel layer and layers of chocolate chips and nuts. These bars are baked to golden perfection and finished with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt for a perfect balance of sweet and salty.
Ingredients
Scale
Homemade Salted Caramel
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water (90g)
- 4 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, sliced
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream, room temperature (100g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Hefty pinch of kosher salt
- 7 tbsp all purpose flour (60g)
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- 1 cup quick oats (95g)
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (165g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp (110g)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (210g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (85g)
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (130g)
- 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped (95g)
For Finishing
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Prepare Caramel Ingredients: Gather all caramel ingredients and ensure the heavy cream is at least room temperature to avoid caramel seizing. Warm cream gently if necessary.
- Cook Sugar Mixture: Combine water and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir gently to combine without splashing sugar on the sides. Heat over medium without stirring until sugar dissolves, and mixture bubbles clear, then watch carefully as it turns from light golden to amber. Stir gently if browning unevenly.
- Add Butter and Cream: Remove from heat immediately once amber color is reached. Whisk in sliced butter slowly, then slowly pour in heavy cream while whisking until smooth.
- Finish Caramel: Whisk in vanilla extract and kosher salt. Return to medium heat and let bubble for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and whisk in flour thoroughly. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper, ensuring to cover all sides.
- Mix Dry Ingredients for Cookie Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together quick oats, all purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, mix unsalted butter and dark brown sugar until smooth using a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Mix in the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture until combined.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry oat-flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until nearly combined. Add 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips just before flour is fully incorporated.
- Layer Dough and Nuts: Spread about two-thirds of the cookie dough evenly into the prepared baking dish as a base crust. Top this layer with an even layer of chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Bake Crust: Bake the crust and nuts layer for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, refrigerate the leftover dough.
- Add Remaining Toppings: Remove crust from oven and sprinkle the dark chocolate chips evenly over it.
- Pour Caramel: Pour the homemade caramel evenly over the chocolate chips. If the caramel has thickened, gently reheat it to loosen before pouring.
- Top with Remaining Dough: Distribute small blobs of the leftover chilled cookie dough randomly over the caramel layer.
- Bake Final Bars: Bake for 25 minutes or until the bars are lightly golden and set.
- Cool and Chill: Allow bars to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour for easier slicing and better texture.
- Serve: Remove bars from pan using parchment paper as a sling, carefully wedge a knife around the edges if needed. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, slice into 16 bars, and serve.
Notes
- If heavy cream is cold, warm it slightly to room temperature to prevent caramel from seizing.
- Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan for more even caramel cooking to prevent burning.
- For easier lifting, ensure the baking dish is well lined with parchment paper on all sides.
- Reheat caramel gently if it thickens before pouring to ensure it spreads evenly.
- Sprinkling flaky sea salt enhances the salty-sweet contrast of the bars.
- Walnuts or pecans can be swapped depending on preference or availability.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 25 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 55 mg
