Yield: 8″ pan salted caramel coffee chip bars // Total Time: 1 hr. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.

Soft and chewy coffee oatmeal cookie bars stuffed with dark chocolate and homemade coffee caramel sauce!

Salted Caramel Coffee Chip Bars

If you’re looking for the perfect dessert, look no further because these stuffed cookie bars are THE dessert for your cravings. It starts with a soft and chewy oatmeal coffee cookie dough. We’ll pat most of that delicious cookie dough down into a pan and partially bake it, then top it with dark chocolate chips, and a homemade salted coffee caramel sauce. Top all that off with more of the oatmeal cookie dough, and bake for stuffed cookie bar perfection.

Papanicholas Coffee

I’ve partnered again with my all-time favorite coffee brand: papanicholas coffee for these cookie bars. I use their coffee beans every day and am so happy to be able to partner with them to spread the love of their coffee. In this recipe I used their salted caramel coffee grounds which have flavor notes of sea salt and rich, creamy caramel. I definitely highly recommend trying some of their coffee, they have so many delicious flavors and are always the coffee I use in my recipes (and for my daily caffeine dose!). You can find their website by clicking here. Also, if you do end up purchasing their coffee be sure to use code FRESH20 for 20% off your coffee order!

What are carmelitas?

Carmelitas are a more common way to describe these bars, but I’ve also found that not many people have heard of them! Carmelitas are essentially two layers of oatmeal cookie dough that are filled with a very very generous amount of caramel sauce and chocolate. I mean…it’s dessert perfection if you ask me. If you’ve ever had a dream bar from Potbelly, these are essentially what those are.

Recipe tips

weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. I do provide cup measurements but please note that I test all my recipes in grams and can not guarantee that your bake will turn out like mine. This kitchen scale is super cheap and a great starter scale!

use room temperature ingredients

It’s almost always important to use ingredients that are at room temperature so that they all incorporate nicely with one another. In this case, all you’ll need is one egg at room temperature – which you can do pretty fast by just running it under hot water for one minute.

line your pan with parchment paper

The caramel likes to ooze out of the bars which can make them difficult to release from the pan. Using parchment to line your pan gives you the ability to pick the bars up out of the pan so you don’t have to worry about cutting them in the pan.

let the bars chill

Annoying, I know! But very necessary. You’re going to need to set the carmelitas to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, up to overnight. If you try to cut the carmelitas before they have fully cooled and set, you’re going to have caramel and chocolate everywhere. I know that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but, I still recommend waiting for the best results.

Ingredients and substitutions

For the coffee oatmeal cookie bars:

All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness. I haven’t tried it but a 1:1 swap gluten free flour should work perfectly here if needed.

Rolled oats: I recommend rolled oats for the best texture.

Coffee grounds: it might sound a little weird but you don’t get any weird texture from this, but you do get a lot of coffee flavor!

Baking soda & baking powder: for helping the dough rise.

Salt: to balance and bring out the sweetness of the carmelitas. Never skip on the salt!

Unsalted butter: for tenderizing and giving the carmelitas a classic buttery taste. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to remove the extra salt from the dough.

Light brown sugar & granulated sugar: a mixture of both helps to both give moisture and flavor, while locking in moisture and keeping the dough soft as well.

Egg: for adding moisture and binding the dough together.

Vanilla: for flavoring.

Dark chocolate chips: for the filling. I recommend using dark chocolate as it provides a nice contrast to the sweetness of the caramel and the dough. Feel free to use semi sweet or milk chocolate in it’s place if you prefer something a bit sweeter.

For the coffee caramel sauce:

Granulated sugar: the base of the caramel.

Coffee: we’ll be putting some brewed coffee straight into the caramel!

Unsalted butter & heavy whipping cream: both of these ingredients help to thin out the caramel and make it silky.

Salt: for balancing the sweetness and bringing out the flavor of the caramel.

Salted caramel coffee chip bars q&a

can these stuffed cookie bars be made ahead of time?

Definitely! Honestly, these only get better with time. Feel free to make these the night before and store them in the fridge until ready to serve.

how to store salted caramel coffee chip bars

Because these bars are filled with caramel, I do recommend storing them in the fridge for the best food safety practices. They are delicious straight from the fridge but you can also let them come to room temperature for 20-30 minutes if you would like. They will also freeze very well if you are looking for longer-term storage. Just lay them flat on a tray in the freezer, and once they have completely frozen, store them all together in an airtight container.

A note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

Tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!