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Friday, September 17, 2010

Caramel Apple Oat Squares

Caramel Apple Oat Squares

Ohh I have been waiting patiently! So, so patiently to post a fallish dessert.

I just couldn't take it anymore.

I haven't decorated the yard for fall yet. I haven't gone apple picking yet. I haven't had John drag down the boxes of Halloween stuff yet, but I had to make something that screamed fall and this dessert is it.

I love caramel. I mean I LOVE caramel, maybe a little too much.

Do you want to know what I don't like? Unwrapping caramels.

Let me make a shout-out. Yo caramel wrapping folks or whatever you call yourselves, can you make those little caramels any harder to unwrap? I was so frustrated by the time I got the 20th one unwrapped, I lost all energy and didn't even unwrap any to eat myself. Sad.

These little squares of deliciousness are everything you want a fall dessert to be. A crunchy, oatty topping with a sweet apple and caramel center. So good.

Yes, these don't utilize fresh apples, but I'm thinking once we go apple picking I could easily adapt this recipe. Doesn't thinly sliced fresh picked apples in place of the apple pie filling sound good?

Oh yeah, making this one again and again.

Caramel Apple Oat Squares 1

Caramel Apple Oat Squares
recipe from Borden's Eagle Brand
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats (I used rolled oats)
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks), cold butter
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
20 caramels, unwrapped
1 – 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 – 21oz can apple pie filling.

Oven to 350. Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pasty blender, or you can use 2 knives to get the same result. Mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 ½ cups of the crumb mixture. Press the remainder into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Add the nuts to the reserved crumb mixture. Melt the caramels with the sweetened condensed milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Spoon the apple filling over the crust. Top with the caramel mixture, then the reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes, or until set.

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this, Lisa! I think we'll be making it next Thursday for the first day of fall, even though it'll still be hotter than hades here LOL

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  2. Those pictures made my mouth water! We're hitting 90 degrees today, but when it cools down, I'll be making these!

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  3. Mmmm, those look good. Over here in CA they sell unwrapped caramels to make things a little easier. Same company, just not wrapped and they are actually these small balls of caramel. Maybe they'll pop up around Halloween. They're awesome, I can send you a bag if you'd like. ^_^

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  4. Looks fantastic, I am loving the pictures too!

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  5. I made this recipe for our Bible Study class this morning and everyone loved them. I served them by cutting them in squares and placing each one in a cupcake paper. Everyone just got their coffee, their caramel apple oat square and was very happy!!

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  6. These look delicious but I think you're right about fresh apples being perfect in this recipe.

    BTW, Kraft makes Caramel pieces (they're about the size of peas) that some in a bag in the baking aisle that don't need unwrapping. You use them the same way.

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  7. I finally conquered my fear of making caramel. No more wrappers!
    Apple + caramel is a perfect match. I'm searching for a dessert, and I think I just found it.

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  8. Oh, this looks good. I have a Red Cross meeting next week and I think this will be a perfect little snack to bring. I think you're right too, about fresh apples -- maybe a couple of Granny Smiths?

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  9. you. do. this. to. me. every. single. time.

    god woman. do you not know i have 10 more pounds to lose ;-)

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  10. um. yum!! thanks for sharing :) i hope to make these SOON!!

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