Chocolate Dulce de Leche Crunch Bars

These little bars have a crunchy sweet oatmeal crust and are filled with dark chocolate, walnuts and Dulce de Leche. They are "super easy" to make and your family will love them.

Where did this idea come from? You can thank my fridge and pantry cupboards. I had a bottle of Dulce de Leche left over from a recent recipe. I also had some glorious dark chocolate chunks that were aching to be eaten. I cannot seem to walk by these in the grocery store without buying at least 2 bags at a time.

Lastly, I have had a new bag of oats staring at me in the cereal cupboard for weeks now. These are not quick-cook oats and please, don't use quick-cook in this recipe as it won't have the same desired texture.

I had originally intended to make date bars today but when I saw the possibilities with the ingredients above I just couldn't resist !

Now on with the show !!

You begin with a 9" X 13" baking pan lined with aluminum foil which must overlap the sides slightly. You will use the overlap as handles to remove the cooled bars for cutting.
Spray the lined pan with cooking spray before adding in the bottom crust.

You will need 3 key ingredients for the bar filler: chocolate, dulce de leche and walnuts.
A "threesome" made in heaven

Here is the baked crust awaiting its filling

Spread the Dulce de Leche on top of the crust and add 250g of chopped dark chocolate

Then add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts sprinkled on top

And finish it off with the remaining crust crumble.
These bars are now ready for the oven and the final baking process !

Baked, cut into bars and downright delicious !!

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

CRUST

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, grated

FILLING

250g chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chunks
1 450g jar of Dulce de Leche
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 9"x13" with aluminum foil so it overlaps on all sides.
SPRAY sides and bottom with cooking spray
IN LARGE BOWL, combine all ingredients
BLEND with your hands until the crust starts to clump together
PAT 1/2 of crust mixture into pan
BAKE 20 minutes
ALLOW to cool on rack for 20 minutes

SPREAD Dulce de Leche over cooled crust
SPRINKLE chopped chocolate over Dulce de Leche
SPRINKLE chopped walnuts over chocolate
YES, THE LAST STEP!! COVER filling with remaining crust.
PRESS top crust down gently
BAKE 35 minutes
ALLOW to cool 1 hr before lifting out of pan by aluminum sides
CUT into bars

Serve warm with ice cream for a special dessert treat