I LOVE Turtles. They are one of the few chocolates I can eat, because they have pecans. Yum! These bars were good, but I found that the caramels became a bit hard once the bars cooled. I think next time I would make the base, scatter the caramels over top, then top with the chocolate mixture, and the rest of the oat mixture. Or something. Anyway, I would make sure the caramels are covered sufficiently so they don't become rock hard from direct exposure to the heat, does that make sense?
They were REALLY good if you heated them up a teeny bit in the microwave before eating, and with ice cream? Yummmmm.
Adapted From Nosh With Me
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking (not instant) oats
1 cup purchased caramels, halved
3/4 cup chocolate chips (the recipe said milk chocolate, I used semi-sweet)
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup pecans
1 tsp vanilla
Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, or you could grease it well. I like parchment-makes for easier clean up. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.
In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add your egg and blend well. In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt with a fork. Add to the butter mixture on low speed, until it's just combined, and then add in the oats. The end result will look like oatmeal cookie dough.
Crumble 2 cups of the dough into the bottom of your pan, pressing it together into a crust out to the edges. Set aside.
Add the halved caramels to the rest of the dough and mix it up well with a wooden spoon.
In a saucepan, melt the chocolate chips with the condensed milk and cocoa over low heat, stirring often, until smooth. Remove from heat, stir in the pecans and vanilla, and let cool slightly. Pour the chocolate over the oatmeal base, and spread to form a thing layer.
Scatter the rest of the oatmeal dough/caramel topping evenly over top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden and topping is firm. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
