My kitchen filled with the sweet smell of caramel, but at
first I found the bar overly sweet. I already gave away most
of it when I thought maybe... maybe I should take a photo of the few I had left. I am
glad I did, because by evening it turned into a different bar cookie, the
texture settled and the flavours mellowed. It was less sweet too. Still I increased the salt from
a pinch to 1/2 tsp. This was a bit more involved bar than your average "Magic Cookie
Bar", though opening a can of dulce de leche was a far cry from making it from
scratch. From Roxana’s Home Baking. Go ahead, eat your oatmeal!
DULCE DE LECHE OATMEAL BARS
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cold butter, diced
1 can 300ml Eagle Brand dulce de leche
- Heat the oven to 350F.
- Fully line an 13X9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set it aside.
- In a food processor add all the ingredients except the dulce de leche.
- Pulse it a few times until it comes together in a ball.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the cookie dough. Press it together, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer.
- press the remaining dough onto the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pour the dulce de leche in a saucepan, and heat it and heat it to pouring consistency.
- Take the pan out of the oven and pour the dulce de leche on the top.
- Grate the frozen reserved dough over the dulce de leche layer and bake it for 25 more minutes or until golden brown. The sides are a good indicator the bar is ready, don’t let it harden to a candy.
- Place the pan on a rack and let the bar cool down completely.
- If the bar is stuck to pan, press down a pastry cutter along the sides to dislodge.
- You
may cut the bar into squares or rectangles, but is you wait a few hours,
the flavour and the texture will improve considerably.
