Carmelitas.

Oooookaaaay, who's the sneaky one that decided not to tell me about these bad boys. Who decided that it would probably be best if Carmelitas were to remain hidden from my radar? I am nooooot impressed with you. Google knows about it, Google knows exactly what you're on about and gives you lots of answers to your Carmelita related question. 

But I don't think I'm alone in my lack of insight; no one I've asked (yes, I question strangers on the street about baking, it's called research) has had a clue what I've been twaddling on about. So since finding out about them through one of my very fav bloggys , I have considered it my duty to spread the word....because people, your life will be better if you add Carmelitas to it.

This, my research tells me, is an American native, along the lines of a flapjack but with added buttery goodness. They might be mental when it comes to guns, but those chaps across the pond know what they are talking about when it comes to seriously good snacks. It's a floury, so a bit more cakey, layer of flapjack, topped with caramel, topped with more flapjacky-ness.

And...AND...I have added my own English genius to the mix in the form of SALTED CARAMEL. Mmmmmmhummmmm. This makes them sound fancy, which, in fact, they are not. They are easypeasy-pants. So please bake them now, and serve them with ice cream and put 'make an American friend' on your to do list, who knoooows what else they've been hiding from us. With Love and Cake.  

Salted Carmelitas

A few notes:

• Of course you don't have to do the salted thing, just leave the salt out of the caramel sauce and you have a regular ol' Caramelita....well as regular as such a thing can be.
• Don't worry if, when you take the Caramelita out of the oven, it looks a bit wobbly and under cooked in the middle; it will firm up as it cools.
• I've directed you to make this salted caramel sauce, which I've told you about before. It takes moments to make, but if you can't quite be bothered, use any shop bought caramel sauce or dulce de leche that you fancy and add a teaspoon or so of salt to taste.

Serves 8ish

You will need

a medium sized brownie ban, about 13x8 inch like this one, lined with greaseproof paper

255g plain flour

170g oats

200g soft brown sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

300g butter, melted

1 x batch salted caramel sauce

• First job: preheat your oven to 160°c.
• Mix the flour, oats, sugar and bicarb together in a big mixing bowl.
• Stir in the melted butter until well combined.
• Tip half the mixture into your prepared baking tin and press it into a nice firm, even layer.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• When removed from the oven, spread the caramel sauce over the baked oat layer and sprinkle over the rest of the oat mixture.
• Bake for a further 25-30 minutes until a little bit risen and just starting to go golden around the edges.
• Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into squares.