Oatmeal Carmelita’s

Crust                                                                       

            2 cups flour or 2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour or 2 cups America’s Test Kitchen GF flour blend + ½ tsp xanthan gum or 2 cups of your favorite GF flour blend +  ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains)                                                       

            2 cups GF quick cooking rolled oats                          

            1½ cups brown sugar or ¾ cup ½:1 brown sugar substitute (like Truvia) or 1½ cup 1:1 brown sugar substitute (like Swerve)

            1 tsp baking soda                                             

            ½ tsp salt                                                            

            1 ¼ cups butter, softened

Filling

            1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips or 1 cup (6 oz) SF chocolate chips

            1 cup (10-12 oz) GF caramel ice cream topping (I like Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel) or 1 cup sugar free made from scratch caramel ice cream topping (See recipe below)

Combine all crust ingredients at low speed on your mixer or with a pastry cutter (my preference - I just like the texture better) until crumbly.

Press half of crust mixture into a 9x13 inch pan lightly sprayed with GF baking spray.

Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle warm base with chocolate chips. Pour caramel ice cream topping over chocolate chips

This is with homemade caramel sauce

This is with Trader Joe’s caramel sauce

Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over entire pan

Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes. Should be toasty brown & look done in the center, but do not over-bake

Cool completely, then cut. (If you can’t wait for them to cool completely, just let them cool on the counter for awhile, then set them in the refrigerator to finish cooling.)

Sugar Free Caramel Ice Cream Topping

¼ cup water

½ cup sugar free caramel syrup (I use Choc Zero) + ½ cup Pyure + 2 tbsp Truvia Brown Sugar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp chunks

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

   *Can add 1 tsp salt if you want salted caramel flavor

In heavy saucepan, heat water, caramel syrup, & sugars over medium heat. Use saucepan a little bigger than you think you will need. Stir constantly until sugars dissolve & mixture starts to bubble just a little.

 Increase heat to high & bring to boil. Stop stirring completely. Continue to boil until deep amber, about 8-10 minutes.

 Remove from heat & slowly whisk in cream. It will bubble up quite a bit! Mix in vanilla & salt, one at a time.

Pour into dish or container & cool completely.

 It will make about 1-1½ cups (16-18 ounces).

 If not using right away (I usually make mine a day or two before I am making the cookies). Just cover tightly & store in refrigerator. I find a mason jar works well.

 The caramel sauce will thicken as it cools, & even more so if you put it in the refrigerator. So if it’s too thick, just uncover the container & place in microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Notes:

I have tried a couple different sugar free chocolate chips. Hershey’s sugar free chocolate chips work pretty well, but don’t taste that chocolatey. Lately I have been using Lily’s semi-sweet style baking chips. They are similar in texture & meltability to regular chocolate chips & the flavor is very similar to regular chocolate.

There are several sugar free caramel ice cream toppings available. But all the ones I have tried either taste more like butterscotch (which is ok, if that is the flavor you are going for) or have an after taste. Since the recipe for sugar free caramel ice cream topping above is pretty simple, I just go with that - it has a much better flavor! I get the Choc Zero caramel syrup on amazon.