Oatmeal Nutellitas {RECIPE}

One of the greatest things about becoming a part of Hubby's family is that I've gained access to so many fantastic recipes. One such recipe is Oatmeal Caramelitas, which I shared over a year ago.  These cookies are scrumptious and sinfully tempting. With butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips and caramel sauce, how can they NOT be?


For safety reasons and health measures, I should be kept away from them at all times.


All warnings aside, I had the brilliant inspiration recently to tweak the recipe a bit. I've done this once before, wherein I created Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars (note: if you like Entenmanns Raspberry Danish, seriously try the Raspberry Bars).  My latest inspiration comes from our recent household obsession with Nutella.


Do you see where this is going?


Did you answer "heaven?" 


If so, you'd be correct.


Here's a simple math equation:


What do you get when you add a tasty sweet crust...

...and bake it until golden brown...

...and spoon on some Nutella...

...which you divide into a layer of delicious goodness...

....and multiply by a handful of chopped nuts....

...and parenthetically top with remaining sinfully sweet crust mixture....

...then bake until awesomeness happens?

PERFECTION.  That's what.

Read on for a cookie bar that is the stuff dreams are made of.


SERIOUSLY, people.

~~~~~

(yields 20-40 cookies/bars, depending on how big you want them)

Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1-2 cups of brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1-4 cup of butter, softened

Filling:

• 3/4 cup of Nutella (or 1 cup if you just can't help yourself)
• 1/2 cup of chopped nuts

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Grease a 13x9-inch pan. Combine crust ingredients and press HALF of the mixture into pan. Bake 10 minutes.


3) Spread the Nutella over the warm crust (To do this, plop spoonfuls over the crust and wait one minute. The heat will make the Nutella softer, making it easier to spread over the surface without "tearing" the bottom crust.


4) Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

5) Top with remaining crust mixture. Bake 18-22 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.


6) Refrigerate 1-2 hours and cut into bars.
ENJOY!