Peanut Butter, Oats, Chocolate, Caramel… say no more! These Peanut Butter Carmelitas are packed with all kinds of things I love in a sweet treat! This is a simple bake that comes together quickly. The Peanut Butter Carmelitas have a bit of a shortbread texture, and the peanut butter and oats satisfy!
No Eggs, No Problem
As I write this post, we are months into rising egg prices and egg shortages in some parts of the country. Personally, I don’t think it should cost four hundred million dollars to make cookies for your family or friends. Bird flu, inflation, or price gauging, whatever the cause may be, here is a bake that allows you to save the eggs for something really important.
Here’s What You Will Need
As I said, there will be no eggs needed for this recipe. You will, however, need butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, old fashioned rolled oats, flour, baking soda, kosher salt, chocolate (chips and chunks are ideal), and caramel sauce. The caramel sauce can be homemade or store bought. Store bought is a nice shortcut, but I will include a recipe for making your own. This recipe makes a nice 8×8 pan of treats, or you can double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 pan.
Pro Tips
*Use a metal baking pan for the best conduction.
*For best results use old fashioned rolled oats, not instant oats. Old fashioned has better texture.
*For the chocolate chunks I chop up half a bar of Ghirardelli 60% premium baking chocolate.
*If you opt for the homemade caramel sauce you may have some left over. Drizzle it on top of the baked bars, or save it in a jar for topping ice cream.
Peanut Butter Carmelita
A shortbread like treat full of peanut butter, oats, chocolate and caramel
Ingredients
For the bars
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup caramel sauce
1 cup chocolate chips
2 oz chopped chocolate chunks
For the caramel sauce
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
*optional sprinkling of sea salt
Instructions
For the bars
Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl cream the butter and peanut butter with the brown sugar. Add the flour, oats, salt and soda and mix to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spread half of the dough mixture onto the bottom of the 8×8 pan and bake for 15 minutes to set. Remove from oven and pour 1/2 cup caramel sauce over the bar cookie. Gently spread the caramel then sprinkle chocolate chunks over the top. Finish by dropping spoonfuls of the remaining dough on the top of the caramel and chocolate, and pressing gently to spread out the dough. It’s ok for some caramel and chocolate to peak through, but try to get decent even coverage if possible. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes. The bars should be set and a bit golden on top. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.
For the caramel sauce
Heat the sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat. The sugar will liquify and start to become amber in color. Swirl the liquid sugar around the pan to even the color. Once a golden amber has been reached, add the butter and stir until the butter is melted and incorporated. Reduce the heat to low, then add the cream, being careful to avoid steam and splatters. Stir the cream into the caramelized sugar and allow to boil at low temp for another minute or two so the mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and add a pinch of sea salt if desired. This makes about 1 cup of caramel sauce.
More
If you are looking for more treats that don’t require eggs, check out my “Extra Crispies Treats” or my Caramel Peanut Butter Shortbread bars.
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