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
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.