Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Carmelitas


I found some carmels on top of the refridgerator this morning and decided to bake some carmelitas. The recipe title in the Better Homes and Garden Baking cookbook I use is different, but I know these bars by the name carmelitas because my friend Gloria used to bake them for camping trips. She would bring a tray along and once I got a taste of these little delights, I would spend most of the weekend following her around begging for more. They were quite addictive. They are also quite rich, I only had one bar today. I will probably want another one to sooth my nerves after the boys go to bed.
One thing I dislike about making these is unwrapping the individual carmels. That it is why this is such a good recipe to make with kids. The boys can sit at the table and unwrap the candies while I mix the other ingredients. I let them each eat one carmel before they began unwrapping and one after to make sure they were not snacking when they should be working. They followed the rule.
Here is the recipe...
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
30 vanilla carmels
3 tbsp milk

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar. Beau until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined. Beat or stir in the flour.
Press two-thrids of rolled oats mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and nuts.
In a medium saucepan combine caramels and milk. Cook over low heat until caramels are melted. Drizzle caramel mixture over chocolate and nuts. Drop remaining one-third of the rolled oats mixture by teaspoons over the top
Bake in a 350 oven for 22-25 minutes or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack and cut into squares.
Here is a layout I did with photos of the different flowers that have been in bloom in our yard this spring.

Credits: Kit - Spring Awakening by Alana McCarthy, Template - Studio Hillary Playday free template

6 comments:

RefreshMom said...

Sounds yummy! (And I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who needs a 'little something' after the boys are finally asleep!)

Unknown said...

That looks like a great recipe.

Just checking - are the caramels hard or soft sweets? Here we have soft chewy caramels, and well as hard suckable/crunchable caramels - which would it be?

Anonymous said...

oh wow that sounds DELICIOUS!!! I'll have to give those a try soon (some night when my husband is at work so I can eat them all myself LOL!)

listgirl said...

Oh wow, those carmelitas look YUM! My DH loves caramel, so I may have to give this a try sometime. I love the potato heads photo from yesterday too!

Erika said...

Mmmmmm.... I want one right now! It sounds so good, and your pic shows them off very well.

bentonflocke said...

Yummy, yummy - they are looking so delicious!

Wonderful page of your garden flowers!