Learn how to make the easiest and most amazing oatmeal carmelitas. Oatmeal carmelitas are a cookie bar that have soft, buttery layers of oats, and are then topped with a soft caramel and chocolate layer to make a divine gooey treat.

Oatmeal Carmelitas Recipe

If you have never had oatmeal carmelitas before, you are in for a treat because they are incredible. Cookie bars are one of my very favorites to make because you still get the cookie taste and texture but with half the work.

Let’s talk about these bars really quick. The layers, oh my word, the layers are so good. You start off making an oat base and bake that. Once that has baked for 15 minutes, you take that out and add your oat crumb, caramel and chocolate layer. You’ll bake that again and when it’s done, you’ll have the most amazing, rich carmelitas that will have everyone wanting the recipe.

The Cowboys’ Rating: 10/10

Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!

What Ingredients are in Oatmeal Carmelitas?

All-Purpose Flour
Old Fashioned Oats – Also known as rolled oats, are the best for this recipe.
Melted Butter – I used salted butter for this recipe.
Brown Sugar – The brown sugar makes these carmelitas so moist and flavorful.
Baking Soda -Baking powder is a leavening agent. This is important in this recipe to achieve the soft, chewy texture.
Caramel Topping – I like to use the caramel ice cream topping. These are the two that I have used for this recipe: Hershey’s Syrup Caramel Flavor, or Smuckers Caramel Topping.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips rather than milk chocolate chips so that it’s not overly sweet.
Sliced Almonds – These are optional! If you are a nut fan and want to add sliced almonds over top, it makes it really yummy too!

Tools You’ll Need

Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer and Mixing Bowl
Small Bowl and Whisk
Spatula
Measuring Cups & Spoons
9×9″ Baking Dish

Recipe for Oatmeal Carmelitas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 9×9″ baking dish with parchment paper* and set aside.
In a bowl, combine oats, 1 1/2 cups of flour, brown sugar and baking soda together. Mix until well combined.
Add in melted butter and mix until crumbly.
Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture and set aside. (This will be used for as a topping.)
Press remaining crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of baking dish.
Bake for 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, whisk together ice cream topping and remaining 1/4 cup flour. Set aside.
When the crust has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from oven and drizzle the caramel mixture evenly over the top making sure to cover the entire crust.
Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture on top of the crust and caramel.
Next, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top.
Return to oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown and bubbly.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Cut into bars and serve.
Enjoy!
- *Parchment paper tip – cut the parchment paper to the desired size, then run the paper under water until it’s wet. Next, ring out the parchment paper. The parchment paper will then become easier to work with and will form to your baking dish!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Carmelitas

This recipe can be adapted to make it gluten free by switching out the flour and the oats. Please also note, I always encourage you to double check your ingredients to make sure the ingredients YOU are using are indeed gluten free. Below are the products I use to make these oatmeal carmelitas gluten free:

Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour

Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats

How to Store Oatmeal Carmelitas

Cover and store the oatmeal carmelitas bars in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.

Try More of My Easy Recipes

dinner

beef recipes

pork recipes

chicken recipes

bread

breakfast

sides

dessert

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Serving Size

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 ¾ cups flour, divided
¾ cups brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter (melted)
1 cup caramel topping
1-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Line a 9×9" baking dish with parchment paper* and set aside.
In a bowl, combine oats, 1 1/2 cups of flour, brown sugar and baking soda together. Mix until well combined.
Add in melted butter and mix until crumbly.
Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture and set aside. (This will be used for as a topping.)
Press remaining crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of baking dish.
Bake for 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, whisk together ice cream topping and remaining 1/4 cup flour. Set aside.
When the crust has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from oven and drizzle the caramel mixture evenly over the top making sure to cover the entire crust.
Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture on top of the crust and caramel.
Next, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top.
Return to oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown and bubbly.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Cut into bars and serve.
Enjoy!

Notes

*Parchment paper tip – cut the parchment paper to the desired size, then run the paper under water until it’s wet. Next, ring out the parchment paper. The parchment paper will then become easier to work with and will form to your baking dish!