Oatmeal Caramel Bars – soft and chewy oatmeal cookie bars loaded with walnuts, milk chocolate chips, and melted caramel.

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Oatmeal Caramel Bars are cookie bars stuffed with oats, chopped walnuts, milk chocolate chips, and gooey caramel. The texture is soft and chewy (I am your texture gal), the flavor is AMAZING, and the recipe is easy-breezy!
I am absolutely in love with these bars! I knew I HAD to bake them when I came across them in BHG’s Biggest Book of Cookies, which I am baking my way through. I couldn’t fathom oatmeal, walnuts, milk chocolate chips, and caramel being anything but drool-worthy. I am happy to report, THEY ARE!

Oatmeal Caramel Bars are soft, chewy, and moist (for lack of a better word). This is EXACTLY what you want in a cookie bar. They’re not falling apart, but they aren’t little bricks of unhappiness either. If they’re hard or crunchy, you baked them too long. This is not a crunchy cookie bar.
These delightful bars have a lovely marriage of flavors. You have a nice, subtle, nutty flavor from the chopped walnuts for nutty nut lovers. You’ve got rich and creamy milk chocolate chips for chocolate lovers. You’ve got the delish flavors of rolled oats for the oatmeal cookie lovers (me). And then you’ve got melted, creamy, gooey, beyond delicious caramel for everyone because caramel makes EVERYTHING better!
These delicious cookie bars are also easy-breezy. The most difficult aspect is getting the caramels out of their wrappers; seriously, you may want to enlist some helpers with that step.
These gooey-caramel bars use a simple oatmeal dough that you press into a jelly roll pan, sprinkle with walnuts and chocolate chips, drizzle with melted caramel, and then drop teaspoons of the remaining oatmeal dough on top. You’re ready to bake!
Oatmeal Caramel Bars received two thumbs up from my taste testers. I cannot stress enough how much I personally love these bars; they are AWESOME!
In fact, I think I need some now. Excuse me while I go bake life sweet!
Oatmeal Caramel Bars
Ingredients
- 30 caramels, unwrapped
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan add unwrapped caramels. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add eggs, vanilla, and baking soda; mix until combined.
- Add flour; mix until combined. Add oats; mix until combined.
- On an ungreased 15x10x1" baking pan, press ⅔ (about 3 and ½ cups) of the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- In the medium saucepan with the unwrapped caramels, add milk. Place saucepan over low-medium heat until caramels are melted, stir occasionally.
- Drizzle melted caramel mixture over chocolate and nuts. Drop remaining oat mixture by teaspoons over the top.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Eat & Enjoy!
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