Saturday, November 7, 2009

Oatmeal Caramel Squares with Salted Cashews and M&M’s



I want to get rid of the excess Halloween candy around here before the next round of holiday treats hits. Who wants to celebrate Hallogivingxmasvtines Day? Ok honestly, it might be fun to throw a crazy party in March with all the accumulated garbage. I could start a new tradition!

Here I topped plain oatmeal blondies with melted caramels, salted cashews and M&M’s and sent them to work with my husband. Salted cashews and oatmeal must have justified them as healthy enough for consumption, because they disappeared in a hurry.

Ingredients
2/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels, unwrapped
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon butter
1 cup salted cashews, divided
3/4 cup M&M’s Milk Chocolate Candies

Ingredients
1. Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the center position.

2. In a bowl or stand mixer mix together the butter and brown sugar. Then add baking soda and salt and stir in. Add the oatmeal and mix to combine. Lastly, add the flour and mix until just combined.

3. Spread the mixture into the pan and even out.

4. Bake for 22 minutes. While the bars are baking, microwave the caramels with 2 Tablespoons water and 1 Tablespoon butter stirring every minute or two until melted.

5. When the bars come out of the oven immediately top with melted caramel, salted cashews, and M&M’s.

6. Bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan placed on a cooling rack.

Recipe by Laura Flowers


24 comments:

Joanna said...

Haha! That's exactly what I do when I feel like baking treats for no reason. Off to the office they go! Otherwise my husband and I would finish the batch in 3 days :)

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Hallogivingxmasvtines day... HA!

These look dangerous!!!

:)
ButterYum

Tiffiny Felix said...

These are so fun :)

Tiffiny Felix said...

I like your new site! How did you get three columns? Is it an upgrade with Blogger?

Kate said...

those look delish and very dangerous!

Sue said...

So eye-catching! I'm sure they taste great too! I send excess sweets to work with my husband too to save myself:)

Coleens Recipes said...

Sorry to hear you are not a big Hallogivingxmasvtines Day fan!! These cookies look like they have a little something for EVERYONE...excellent treat.

Erin from Long Island said...

i love make-it-up as you go baking! we only have bars, so i find other ways to use them up

and Hallogivingxmasvtines Day made me laugh....and a little pee came out

The Cooking Photographer said...

Lol!!!! Omgosh Erin you are awesome!

The Cooking Photographer said...

Hi Ladies! Thanks for stopping by!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Nomnomnom - these look so good! We actually don't get trick-or-treaters in our apartments so I didn't buy candy but I just saw a sign at CVS that all "Holloween" candy is on sale. And I'm totally game for a mass commercialized holiday bash ;).

Deeba PAB said...

I think I need to go and buy some candy to make these...yum yum yum !

Federica Simoni said...

mmmm...delizioso!

Astrid (Mrs.B) said...

Those look really fun! Kids would love them. I'll try to make them for my next play group.

La Table De Nana said...

Bet you could sell these:)

Steph said...

Those look so good! I love how it's studded with m and m's.

marla (Family Fresh Cooking) said...

Love the idea of salty cashews with the sweet stuff. Adds a bit of texture too. Thankfully there is no left over Halloween candy around here, otherwise this is a great way to use it!!!! I'll need to try soon.

Amber said...

If I hadn't already made the PW's chocolate sheet cake today I would TOTALLY be making these! They look soooo delicious!

Fran said...

I love the sweet & salty combo! They look great! Need to head into the kitchen and see what I can put together. :)

southern cookbook said...

Hallogivingxmasvtines Day? This made me laugh, only you could of thought of this day. The treats look amazing, a great idea to get rid of all that candy. :)

Cristie said...

Isn't it the truth!?! What to do with the left over candy is always a problem. I love what you did with it- I'm going to try it- this looks great!

Souffle Days said...

I cam across this while looking for a caramel-chocolate oatmeal bar. How do you think the melted caramels would hold up, say if they were baked in a layer with chocolate between two layers of the oatmeal dough? I'm thinking it may harden up but I'd be curious what you think!
Thanks for a wonderful recipe! They look delicious.

The Cooking Photographer said...

Hmm good question. I'm less worried about the caramel getting hard, but thinking it might dissolve or burn and be funky. I have no idea here. I've never baked it in before.

Laura

Sophia said...

Wow, great job here. Awesome picture too! You should really consider submitting this to Recipe4Living's Ghoulishly Good Halloween Recipe Contest! It looks delicious!

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