Carmelitas- A Guest Post from All Day I Dream About Food
Doesn’t that picture just take your breath away?! You are in for a real treat today! I am so happy to be welcoming Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food to be my guest blogger. Carolyn is one of the first bloggers that I turned to for help when I began this journey. I asked her a brief question and to my surprise she emailed me back with the answer and a wealth of information. I always feel encouraged after talking with her. Visit her blog and you would never know that she is diabetic. She has found creative ways to incorporte sweet treats into her family’s meals. I can’t wait for you to meet her so I’ll stop talking. Please welcome Carolyn {All Day I Dream About Food}
If you are a regular reader of Katrina’s blog, you already know that she likes to do it up right. When it comes to dessert, she is a no-holds-barred kind of girl and this is a no-holds-barred kind of blog. Now that’s my kind of girl and my kind of blog! I wish I could say the same about myself, but as a diabetic, I do have to bar some holds – particularly those of the sugar and flour variety. Sad, but true.
This is not to say I don’t know HOW to do it up right. In fact, I relish any opportunity for no-holds-barred baking, and when Katrina asked me to guest post, I decided it was exactly one of those opportunities. It didn’t take me long to figure out what I wanted to make. Carmelitas. Repeat after me…car-mel-LEE-tas. Yes, it must be said in exactly this way, with a strong emphasis on the third syllable, thus rendering it into a very phony Mexican accent. They taste better that way, I don’t know why.
This recipe was one of the first I ever tinkered with to come up with my own version. I’d seen them in a Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook, and was instantly drawn to the chewy oatmeal crust filled with gooey caramel. But I wasn’t impressed with the ingredient list, the use of store-bought caramel ice-cream topping in particular. When I bake, I like to do everything from scratch, I don’t like to take shortcuts. And as I had made caramel filling for other desserts before, I knew it wasn’t all that difficult. I also found that the oatmeal crust wasn’t crumbly enough to my liking, so I tinkered with that as well.
These were and always have been a hit with anyone who’s ever tried them. The filling calls for chopped nuts. I left them out this time so that my kids could take them to their nut-free summer camp, but I will include them in the recipe and you can decide for yourself. Enjoy!
Carmelitas Recipe
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 10 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch pieces
- Filling:
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 tbsp butter
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Instructions
- For the Crust:
- Whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Press half of the mixture into prepared pan, reserving the remaining half, and bake for 10 minutes.
- For the Filling:
- Meanwhile, combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
- Boil, without stirring, until mixture becomes deep amber in colour, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream and butter. The mixture will bubble up vigorously.
- Return to low heat and stir until caramel becomes smooth, 1 or 2 more minutes.
- Pour caramel over prepared crust and sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until caramel is bubbling and top is light golden.
- Remove from oven and cool completely. Cut into bars.
26 Comments on “Carmelitas- A Guest Post from All Day I Dream About Food”
These are my favorite from childhood and now I have a recipe!! Yay! I didn’t see the size of pan though, or the oven temp? Am I blind??
Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established
blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure
things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own
but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
With thanks
These look fantastic!! I love the contrast of the chewy and crumbly. Thanks for sharing!
Yummy!! thanks to both of you for sharing.
I must make these…such a great mix of texture and flavor. My tummy calls out for them.
These look amazing. So tasty and the photos are fab.
Great for you to have a vacation. Great guest post. I just had a craving for Carmelitas yesterday and made up an oatmeal cookie that fit the bill.
Hehe… yes, they must definitely be pronounced with the "phony" Mexican accent. Either way though, I'm sure these are one stellar dessert =)
I may have to make these this weekend.
Nice guest post- hope you are having a fun vacation. I was on board with this as soon as I heard Caramel!! Love that this is a bar too, adding this to my list to make soon!
Oh, my gosh, Carolyn! You've made one of my favorites even better! Thanks, Katrina, for a great guest poster…I'm a big fan of you both~
Hi Katrina! I hope you are having awesome vacation! It's great to see Carolyn on your blog – both of you are amazing baker and you two must share so much in common! Now Carolyn, your carmelitas look yummy! I don't think anyone would refuse to eat these delicious & irresistible desserts.
That picture TOTALLY took my breath away… but I would expect nothing less from Carolyn… one of my FAVORITE food bloggers! Great post!
Those photos! I feel like I can reach right in and grab one of those bars! I wish I could:)
These look scrumptious. Great guest post!
I love seeing Carolyn over here..you girls make an awesome team:)) These looks so good, what a great recipe and pictures!!! Yummy!
I'm SO making these! Thanks for having Carolyn over for a visit Katrina. It's an awesome recipe.
Out of control yum. This is totally a bar holding free zone, right here. Awesome carmel-LEE-tas and fantastic favorite foodies mash up. Buzzed!
These look incredible! I love everything about this recipe. Trying to figure out when I can make them. Great guest post Carolyn! Hope you are having a great trip Katrina!
Katrina- I hope you are having a fabulous relaxing vacation! Carolyn- your carmelitas look amazing!
Thanks for the guest post. This looks like the lemon bars but instead of having lemon cream in the middle there are nuts and chocolate… I will definately give a try.
Oh these sound AWESOME! Bookmarked!!
awesome guest post! i didn't know what carmelitas were until right now but they look incredibly delicious and i look forward to trying them out and sharing them with my friends and family 🙂
Great guest post, Carolyn! Love your recipe for Carmelitas… They look and sound fabulous… 🙂 Congrats!
Oh, my….these are incredible! What a tasty recipe and beautiful photos! Bravo!
I agree – the 'LEE" in carmelitas must be emphasized! These look particularly awesome Carolyn, caramel is one of my favorites! Can't wait to try these!