Sweets for the sweets- Carmelitas

Pour some sugar on me
Ooh, in the name of love
Pour some sugar on me
C'mon, fire me up
Pour your sugar on me
Oh, I can't get enough
I'm hot, sticky sweet
From my head to my feet, yeah
(Def Leppard, Pour Some Sugar On Me)

So, yah, that was the theme from my life this morning. No, get your head out of the gutter, I was making a new little treat called Carmelitas. It's Valentine's Day and my office is having sweets/chocolate day to celebrate. I know, like we need anymore sweetness around here, right? I looked through my Pinterest board and of course who wants to make something tried and true, why not just step out and try something new? And OHHHH MYYYY these were delish. I pan of gooey greatness. Enough sugar to put a small country into a diabetic coma for a few days. I highly recommend you give these a try. I doubled the recipe but they are super rich so probably the 8x8 pan is enough for most people.

Carmelitas
(from Lulu the Baker)
32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.
*A stint in the fridge will help them cool off if you're pinched for time. They shouldn't be served cold, but all of that molten caramel takes a long time to cool down. They should be stored and served at room temperature.
**If you want to use homemade or store-bought caramel sauce in place of the caramel/cream mixture, use 1 1/4 cups of sauce.
***To make a 9x13" version, simply double the amounts.