Dulce de Leche Apple Bars

These bar cookies are a fall twist on a “caramelita.” Caramelitas are oatmeal cookies bars with caramel and sometimes chocolate too. This recipe is one my mom used to make during the fall growing up. I wanted to make a few changes to the recipe though. The original recipe uses premade caramel squares. I have made them with homemade carame sauce but they usually end up too soggy and fall apart easily. I decided to use dulce de leche to solve this issue. Dulce de leche is thicker and provides a comparable caramel sensation.

The original recipe also uses straight up raw apple chunks. I have found that doing this also contributes to making the bars more soggy than need be. To solve this issue I roasted small chunks of apples (skins on) in the oven to dry them out a bit.

Dulce de Leche Apple Bars

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 can dulce de leche or homemade caramel sauce

4 medium sized apples, chopped into half inch chunks

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In an 8 in square pan, combine apple chunks, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

In a standmixer with paddle attachment, by hand, or with hand held mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar till light and fluffy. Add flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Stir until just combined.

Press about 2/3 of the dough into an 8 inch square pan. Scoop baked apple chunks on top and spread evenly. Dollop dulce de leche in small spoonfuls across the top of the apples. Sprinkle the last 1/3 of the dough on top of the apples and dulce de leche. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until slightly brown on top.