My Sister's Oatmeal Carmelitas

This is the best thing I have, without a doubt, eaten in my life. When my sister makes them and brings them to my house, I forget the cheesecakes, cookies, fudge, and pies. I eat only these.


But I think it is what I am reminded of when I eat them. As I take a bite, I can see myself back in the late 60's and early 70's. I was in about the 4th grade I think. I had a teacher who was a little standoffish. Around thanksgiving, I took a box with a new dessert my sister had made, called Oatmeal Carmelita's. My teacher at the end of the day called me aside and told me she wanted to talk to my mother when she came to pick me up. So she walked out with me to the car, and asked my mother to make some of those bars for her to mail someone, she had someone very special. My mom agreed and my teacher said she would pay for all the ingredients, and anything else she wanted to make was ok. So off we went, and my sister and mother got busy. They baked cookies, made fudge, and then my sister made the Oatmeal Carmelita's. So when my mother came to get me from school a few days later, my mom walked in with a big box of goodies. My teacher had some money in her hand, and my mother was telling her the best way to package them. My mother was somewhat of an expert, my brother had just returned from a few years in Japan in the Air Force.

After the conversation, my mother asked her whom she was sending these too. And I will never forget my teacher’s response. She said, "My younger brother is in Vietnam. He will be there for the holidays, and a lot of the guys are getting homemade things to share on Christmas Day. I thought there would be perfect for him, because after all.........we worry about him, you know? My mother makes herself sick every time it is on the news. We will miss him this year, and I want him to know how much we are thinking of him." The tears welled up in my mother's eyes. She was lucky enough to have her son home, and her heart went out to my teacher. As my teacher pushed the money in my mother’s hand, I watched my mother gently push the money back, and she reached out and hugged my teacher. She would not take any money, and when my teacher insisted, she told my teacher to instead save it for when her brother comes home, and buy him an extra special Christmas gift. My teacher cried, and later told me what a wonderful mom I had.



As if I didn't know.

Oatmeal Carmelita's


1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup margarine
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
3 tbsp flour



Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, soda, salt and margarine. Blend well at low speed to form crumbs. Press half the crumbs into an 11 x 7 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Blend caramel topping and 3 tbsp flour. Pour over chocolate chips and nuts to cover. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, until done. If you have any doubts about the way your oven heats, start checking this after 15 minutes. I also line my pan with parchment paper, and I let it hang over the sides - that way I can chill them, lift it out with the parchment paper, and cut them in squares using a pizza cutter.

And just to show you how darn cute I was, I called these "carmel eaters" when I was a kid.