Caramel Revel Bars

Active time: 30 minutes | Total bake time: 27 minutes

So Revel Bars are typically a dessert with an oat cookie crust, a chocolate sweetened condensed milk layer, and then extra oat cookie crust crumbled on top. I attempted my own version of that and when the first version didn’t work out as I had hoped, I was inspired to stray a little farther from the original dessert. This ended up being a combination of caramel slice (a delicious dessert from New Zealand), mixed with chocolate revel bars to become my new invention: Caramel Revel Bars! The oat shortbread crust is nice and crumbly, but not too sweet, while the caramel layer is super sweet and ooey gooey; a truly lovely bite of deliciousness.

Ingredients:

For the Shortbread:

• 226g (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

• 100g (½ cup) brown sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp salt

• 270g (2 ¼ cups) all purpose flour

• 120g (1 ½ cups) rolled oats

For the Caramel:

• 113g (1 stick / ½ cup) unsalted butter

• 90g (½ cup loosely packed) brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract

• ½ tsp salt

• 14 ounces (395g/1 can) sweetened condensed milk

• 180g (1 cup) semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. For the Shortbread: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar, and vanilla; mix until well incorporated.

3. Fold in oats, flour, and salt until just evenly incorporated. Press ¾ of the dough into the bottom of your prepared baking pan in an even layer. Set aside the remaining dough.

4. Bake the first layer of dough for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and refrigerate while you make the caramel.

5. For the Caramel: Lower the oven to 320°F.

6. Place the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, whisk the ingredients together to combine, then just leave it until it reaches a simmer.

7. When bubbles appear, add the sweetened condensed milk and whisk constantly for 5-7 minutes until it boils (you’ll start to see bigger bubbles from the bottom of the pan). Continue to whisk for one minute, then pour the caramel onto your shortbread and carefully tilt the pan to spread it out evenly.

8. Top the caramel layer with randomly placed small scoops of the remaining dough and evenly distribute chocolate chips.

9. Return to the oven for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely in the pan, then bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator, depending on your preference.