The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / bar cookies / Hole Of Shame Hazelnut Carmelitas

Hole Of Shame Hazelnut Carmelitas

July 4, 2009 By Laura 11 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email


I was in a used bookstore the other day when I happened across a small baking book devoted to coffeehouse treats. I had tried and true recipes for everything in it, except for carmelitas. Which I had never heard of and which sounded amazing. I could not really justify buying the book for just one recipe (when I had ALL of the others) so I called John and asked him to do an internet search on carmelitas. Once I had ascertained that there were, indeed, plenty of online recipes to choose from, I closed the book and went home.


After doing my own search, I finally settled on this recipe from Food and Wine, created by Louis Lambert for Lady bird Johnson. The recipe calls for pecans, however, which I love in oatmeal but don’t like as well with chocolate (weird, I realize). So I subbed in hazelnuts. My other changes are minimal (more salt, rolled oats instead of quick-cooking, and I accidentally left the flour out of the dulce de leche to no detriment and don’t see a reason for it, hence I have not called for it).


Be warned this recipe is huge. Although it makes a deceptively standard 9X13 pan, the bar is much thicker and dense than most bar recipes. In that single pan of cookies is a pound of butter. Half of the pan immediately went into John’s work–and based on how much I cannot keep eating them, I probably should have sent more. (Update 2015: after avoiding these bars for a long time–because if I make them I eat them, as in all of them–I finally made them again–you can check out updated pics here and I am sharing an example now:)

Hazelnut Carmelitas--so good I dug a hole out of the pan when I could not wait for them to cool!

Which brings me to my next point. These are just awesome. The base (and middle layer) is kind of like crisp topping, which I love, and less like the shortbread base we see in most bar cookies. Not that I don’t love shortbread, but I really love crisps too, and this was unique and really tasty. The whole thing is great texturally and taste-wise, a real home run.

This bar cookie marks my first ever Hole Of Shame: where I could not wait for the bars to be ready the next day (note they require an overnight wait before slicing) and instead dug a small hole to taste. I cannot say I regret it.


Hazelnut Carmelitas
Adapted from Louis Lambert, Food and Wine

3 cups (378 g) AP flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
4 sticks (1 lb) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups rolled oats
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
One 16-ounce jar dulce de leche (1 1/2 cups) (I like the same brand I used here)
9 oz chopped semi sweet chocolate
3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line with foil and butter a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and salt. Add the oats and brown sugar and mix until combined. Add the butter and mix on the lowest speed (or by hand) until the butter is uniformly mixed in–it will remind you of crisp topping, quite buttery and clumpy.

Pat half of the oat mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Scatter half of the chopped chocolate and half of the hazelnuts over the crust. Drizzle half of the dulce de leche mixture on top of these. Crumble the remaining oat mixture evenly into the pan–it will be a fair amount, basically a second layer of the crust. Pat it gently, so that it is level but not smashed in. Cover this second layer with the remaining chocolate, hazelnuts and dulce de leche, in the same manner as the first layer. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the edges are set. Let stand uncovered at room temperature overnight. After slicing the next day, store tightly sealed.

Filed Under: bar cookies, caramel, chocolate, cookies, hazelnuts, oats

« Moroccan Roasted Vegetables
Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce) »

Comments

  1. noble pig says

    July 4, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    Those are about as sinful as you could get. My goodness…I want.

    Reply
  2. Ingrid says

    July 4, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    LOL, hole of shame? Except for cakes pretty much everything I make has one,okay three or four considering none of use except Joe has self control!

    These look insanely good!

    Happy 4th!
    ~ingrid

    Reply
  3. Robert says

    July 4, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    Hole-y cow! Those sound amazing.

    Hope you had a good Fourth!

    Robert

    Reply
  4. Amy says

    July 4, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    I second Ingrid! I can never wait more than an hour or two, usually less. Overnight? Definitely a hole. But I am not ashamed!

    Reply
  5. KJ says

    July 5, 2009 at 2:08 am

    Goodness, this looks incredible. My sister is a caramel freak and would love this. I am going to make it and share it with her……eventually.

    Reply
  6. Josie says

    July 5, 2009 at 8:15 am

    richest dessert of all time. it makes me teeth hurt just looking at it!

    Reply
  7. LeilaZ99 says

    July 5, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    I can't believe I've made something before you did!
    😉 (But we stick with the pecans here.) They're a family favorite around here, and you may have just inspired me to go whip up a batch…with hazelnuts. We never wait until the next day.

    Reply
  8. That Girl says

    July 5, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    This look SO decadent!

    Reply
  9. Simran says

    July 5, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    Wow! They look yum

    Reply
  10. Jenn's Baking Chamber says

    July 6, 2009 at 2:41 am

    Those are ridiculously good looking! Must bake now…must eat them all!

    Reply
  11. Grace says

    July 7, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    caramel heaven. had this recipe not been prevalent on the internet, it totally would've been worth buying the book just for this reason. great bars!
    meanwhile, i can't wait til you see the finale of fringe–SO good. and pushing daisies was good as an episode, but not as a finale. i still want more! 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • New Orleans Style Pain Perdu (French Toast)
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Middle Eastern Scrambled Eggs with Meat and Onion: Review of An Edible Mosaic
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Goan Influenced Goat Stew in the Slow Cooker
  • North Indian Baked Eggs: Review of Seven Spoons

Copyright © 2008–2023 The Spiced Life