These irresistible Chocolate Caramel Bars are the ultimate treat! Gooey melted caramels, chocolate, and walnuts are sandwiched between layers of chewy oats. They’re guaranteed to disappear in no time!
If you love the chocolate and caramel combo, you’ll also love my Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies.
These scrumptious Chocolate Caramel Bars are the very first dessert bar recipe I published the year I started this blog. They are known around these parts as “Care Package Bars”.
Back when my oldest left for college, I immediately started planning for his first trip home. I believe I actually booked his flight home for Thanksgiving the week he left. Hey, it made me feel better. So did sending him care packages.
These Chocolate Caramel Bars were always one of his favorites and after packaging them up and sending them to him, I came to discover they are the perfect baked goodies to send in a care package (see my storage tips below). They are super moist and gooey coming out of the oven so if you wrap them well in foil and package them in a plastic container to protect them from damage, they will be perfect and fresh upon arrival.
And if you’re just looking for a fun baking project for the weekend, this is it! These babies are the perfect sweet treat to have on hand through the week.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Caramel mixture: You’ll need a bag of individually wrapped caramels. The most time consuming task in this recipe is unwrapping the caramels. Once that’s done, the rest is a breeze. You’ll also need a little heavy cream.
- Oat layers: A mixture of all-purpose flour, old fashioned oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and melted butter.
- Chocolate chips and nuts: Semisweet chocolate chips and chopped walnuts join the gooey caramel mixture sandwiched between the oat layers.
How to Make Chocolate Caramel Bars
- Place the unwrapped caramels and heavy cream in a saucepan and place it over low heat.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well blended.
- Measure out 1½ cups of the mixture and set it aside for later.
- Press the remainder of the oat mixture into the bottom of a greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. - Remove from the oven, top with the chocolate chips and walnuts, and pour the caramel mixture evenly over the top.
- Crumble the reserved crust mixture over the top. Return it to the oven and bake for an additional 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Storage Tips
Store the bars, covered, or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. For longer storage, they freeze well. Just wrap them in foil or plastic wrap, place them inside a freezer-safe zippered food storage bag and freeze them for up to 2 to 3 months.
If you’d like to send them in a care package or to friends or family through the mail, here are my tips.
- Plan to mail them early in the week to allow enough time for your package to be delivered. If you mail them towards the end of the week you’ll miss a day of freshness while their left sitting in the post office on Sunday.
- Be sure the bars have completely cooled before packaging.
- Wrap the bars in foil, then place them in a sturdy, airtight storage container.
- Then, place the container in your shipping box with your other care package items, adding packing material to ensure the items won’t bounce around.
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Chocolate Caramel Bars
Ingredients
- 32 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
- 5 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, melted
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- x 9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium saucepan over LOW heat, melt together the caramels and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well blended. Measure out 1½ cups of the mixture and set it aside for later. Press the remainder of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle with the chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour the caramel mixture over the top and then crumble the reserved crust mixture over the top.
- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Dessert Bar Recipes
This post was originally published on October 2, 2011. It has been updated with new text and images.
I’m in love with your recipes ! But with this one i have a huge problem, i’m allergic to peanuts and nuts, do you know if i can replace it with something else ? Or i just ignore the walnuts ? Thanks
You could just leave them out but then, again, I can think of some wonderful possibilities for substitutes depending on your taste. Coconut would be really good, you could add dark chocolate chips or butterscotch chips. Good luck Stephanie 🙂
thanks. So much
Valerie, I am so happy I found your page!
Those Bars look unbelievably delicious – perfect for an oatmeal addict like me!
I will for sure bake them as soon as possible!
I’m happy you found me too 🙂 Welcome and I hope you enjoy the bars!
Hi Valerie! This is my first time here and I spent some time browsing and enjoying looking at your recipes. You have 4 boys! You have such a beautiful family and you have lots of great recipes. Thanks for sharing these bars – look so delicious!!!
Thank you so much Nami! I’m completely in love with your gorgeous blog and just took a look at the changes you did to your recipe index. I’m envious that you have a husband who can write code!