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So So Good Salted Carmelitas

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Salted Carmelitas | Festively Made
Happy Labor Day to you! I hope everyone is enjoying a nice day off. We celebrated the day yesterday with a little get-together by the pool. It just might be the last hurrah of the summer poolside, and I really wanted to make a new dessert. I’ve seen this recipe for Carmelitas floating around Pinterest for some time now…first from Lulu the Baker and then from Averie Cooks, among others. The pictures were enough to make your mouth water.

Salted Carmelitas | Festively Made
Both recipes call for making your own caramel sauce using 30+ caramel candies, but alternatively said you could use store-bought caramel sauce. Averie Cooks mentioned the salted caramel sauce from Trader Joe’s, which I have seen before, but never purchased. I don’t know about you, but sauce already made vs unwrapping 30+ caramel candies and making my own sauce. Yeah, it wasn’t a tough decision. Besides, I thought the salted caramel sauce would be SO good.

Salted Carmelitas | Festively Made
These Salted Carmelitas are really easy to make, too. I love a recipe that doesn’t dirty my mixer! You mix this all by hand, and with the store-bought caramel sauce, it just comes together that much quicker. The hardest part was waiting for the Salted Carmelitas to cool off so we could taste them. They were so worth the wait. The gooey deliciousness did not disappoint. The Salted Carmelitas are just oozing with caramel and chocolate. What could be bad about that?!! My husband thought they were a tad too sweet, but that didn’t stop him from polishing off a bar or two. Just saying! Our guests seemed to enjoy them, too.

Salted Carmelitas | Festively Made
These Salted Carmelitas need a chunk of time to cool off before serving so keep that in mind in you are making the recipe! Enjoy!

Salted Carmelitas

Print recipe
Salted Carmelitas
Serves 9-12
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 30 minutes
Total time 45 minutes
Allergy Milk, Wheat
Meal type Dessert
Misc Freezable
Website Adapted from Lulu the Baker AND Averie Cooks

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cups unsalted butter (1 1/2 stick)
  • 3/4 cups light brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole-rolled old fashioned oats (not instant or quick cook)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
  • 1 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce (I purchased mine at Trader Joe's; I used the entire jar)

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with cooking spray (I used Pam Baking Spray). Set pan aside.
Step 2
In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, oats, and baking soda. Mixture will be thick.
Step 3
Pat half of the oatmeal mixture evenly into the bottom of the 8 x 8-inch pan. This does not have to be exact. Use your best judgment! Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Step 4
Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips or chunks over the crust. Pour caramel sauce evenly over the chocolate. Evenly crumble the remaining oat mixture over the caramel.
Step 5
Return to oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.
Step 6
Remove from oven and allow bars to cool completely before slicing and serving, giving the melted caramel time to firm up. This can take up to 4 hours, or overnight, at room temperature. If you are pinched for time, you can speed up the process by placing it into the refrigerator. Bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.

What’s More American than Crunch Top Apple Pie?

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Crunch Top Apple Pie | Festively Made
We  hung by the pool on the 4th of July. Delicious food and great friends are the perfect recipe for a good time, don’t you think? In addition to some hot-off-the-grill bbq and five dips, including this curry one, I also made Paula Deen’s Crunch Top Apple Pie. What’s more American than apple pie? I just love the smell of fresh-baked apple pie wafting in the air!

Crunch Top Apple Pie | Festively Made
I wish people made pie more often. The whole process of making a pie intimidates a lot of people. Could it be the rolling out of the crust? Or the time-consuming nature of most pie recipes? Whatever the case, this recipe for Crunch Top Apple Pie couldn’t be any easier to make. The most difficult task is peeling and cutting the apples. With a tool like this one, prepping the apples is a breeze.

Crunch Top Apple Pie | Festively Made
The best part of this recipe is that you can simplify the pie-making process even further by using a refrigerated pie crust from the grocery store. I used this one by Pillsbury. If you’re a purist or feel inclined to make your own, you can go that route, too. That said, refrigerated pie crust is SO easy to use. And shoot, you don’t even have to tell anyone you used it. When someone compliments  you on your pie crust, just say thank you.

Crunch Top Apple Pie | Festively Made
Paula’s original recipe calls for plain applesauce, but I’ve found this recipe is even better when made with cinnamon applesauce because who doesn’t love a little more cinnamon in their apple pie?! I really like to use this applesauce in the recipe because I prefer its flavor the best, but you can’t go wrong with any brand. The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, which you can omit or lessen if you do choose to use a cinnamon applesauce. Just something to keep in mind.

This recipe never fails to get high praise. I know you won’t be disappointed if you make it. Enjoy!

Crunch Top Apple Pie

Print recipe
Crunch Top Apple Pie
Serves 8
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 55 minutes
Total time 1 hours, 10 minutes
Allergy Milk, Wheat
Meal type Dessert
Misc Child Friendly, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Website Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

  • dough for a double crust 9-inch pie (homemade, frozen, or refrigerated)
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • dash salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  • 3 1/2 cups apples (peeled and chopped)
  • 16oz cinnamon applesauce
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons butter (chopped into small pieces)
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • dash salt
  • 1 tablespoon butter (at room temperature)

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 2
Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of dough. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon (optional), and salt in a bowl. Stir in apples, cinnamon applesauce, and lemon juice. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter.
Step 3
Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of pie.
Step 4
For crunch topping, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over top of crust.
Step 5
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.