Friday, August 13, 2010

Carmelitas

My sister in law brought these to us on Sunday, I was served two but said I just wanted one and put one back but they were so heavenly that I ended up eating the second one anyway. I love these!!! I made these a couple of days ago and used a mix of white chocolate chips, butterscotch, semi sweet and milk chocolate instead of all semi sweet since I didn't have enough. I love how they turned out with the mix of chocolates.

Guittard Carmelitas

14 oz. (50 pcs.) light candy caramels (I bought 1 bag of caramel bits, they are easier)
1/2 c. evaporated milk
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups (12 oz) Guittard semisweet chocolate chips, divided (or you can try to add white chocolate, buttersccotch and or milk chocolate too like I did)
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13x2" pan.
Melt caramels and evaporated milk in heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and melted butter. Press half of crumbs into bottom of prepared 9x13x2" pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and evenly sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and all the pecans over the crust. Pour and spread caramel mixture to cover the chips and pecans. Mix remaining 1/2 cup chips with crumbs and sprinkle over top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into 48 bars.
Microwave instructions: Melt caramels and milk in small glass bowl on high for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes, stirring after each minute until smooth. Proceed as directed above.