Carmelitas are dessert bars that have a buttery brown sugar oat crust, a melty chocolate and rich caramel center, and a crumbly oat topping. Dessert perfection!

I love switching up desserts — don’t get me wrong, chocolate chip cookies and brownies are amazing, but sometimes your sweet tooth needs something new. These carmelita bars are everything you love about cookies and candy rolled into one irresistible bite.

The top and bottom layers are soft, golden oatmeal cookie goodness, sandwiching a gooey caramel-chocolate center that melts together beautifully. One bite, and you’ll understand why these bars never last long at our house!

Why You’ll Love These Carmelita Bars

Gooey, melty, and a little bit of crispy in each bite. The combination of textures is totally divine!

Super easy to make. Even taking into account the different layers it’s pretty much just as easy as could be which is perfect for when you want a little something sweet but you aren’t up for a huge kitchen project.

No mixer needed. All you need is a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.

These are always a huge crowd pleasers. I’ve never taken home leftovers when I’ve taken them to any kind of event.

Now this is dangerous, but you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now, so get baking!

Ingredients Needed for Carmelitas

The good news just keeps on comin’! Most of the ingredients for carmelita bars are pantry-friendly ingredients that you’ll already have at home. Here is what you will need:

• Flour: Gives structure to the oat layers so they hold the gooey filling together.
• Old-Fashioned Oats: Add chewy texture and that classic oatmeal cookie flavor we love in carmelitas.
• Cinnamon: Adds warmth and depth, enhancing the caramel and chocolate flavors.
• Salt: Balances the sweetness and makes the caramel and chocolate flavors pop.
• Baking Soda: Helps the oat mixture bake up light and slightly crisp instead of dense.
• Brown Sugar: Adds rich caramel flavor and moisture, giving the crust that buttery chew.
• Butter: Binds the oat mixture together and creates that golden, crisp, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
• Caramel Squares: Melt into that gooey, rich caramel center that defines carmelitas. You’ll want 37 pieces of the individually wrapped caramels, no more, no less.
• Evaporated Milk: Thins the caramel just enough so it’s pourable and soft when baked.
• Heavy Cream: Adds extra richness and keeps the caramel ultra-smooth and creamy.
• Chocolate Chips: We prefer a combination of milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Milk chocolate brings creamy, sweet chocolate flavor that pairs perfectly with caramel. The semi-sweet chocolate adds balance and depth — just enough b

A 4-ingredient homemade popcorn seasoning recipe that will take the flavor of late-night snacking to the next level!

My family loves popcorn! A few years ago our friends told us that on days they don’t want to cook dinner they make protein shakes and popcorn, and we hopped right on that train! We usually stick to buttered popcorn or rosemary popcorn when it’s for dinner, but when it’s movie night our other favorites include marshmallow popcorn (Cade’s favorite), kettle corn (Carrian’s favorite) and caramel corn (the kids’ favorite!)

Caramel Popcorn Seasoning is a sweet popcorn seasoning that is easy to make and adds a delicious flavor to your homemade popcorn.  

Learning how to make flavored popcorn seasoning is super simple and it makes the perfect gift for neighbors around the holidays! Make popcorn at home today and try out my mom’s perfect caramel popcorn seasoning!

Ingredients for Homemade Caramel Popcorn Seasoning

Salt: Balances all the sugars, enhances flavor, and keeps the seasoning from being one-note sweet. It also makes the popcorn taste more snackable.

Powdered Sugar: Provides a very fine, quick-dissolving sweetness that clings easily to the popcorn. Its texture helps coat evenly without making the popcorn soggy.

Turbinado Sugar: Adds a light molasses flavor with larger crystals that give a bit of crunch. It brings a more complex sweetness than regular white sugar.

Light Brown Sugar: Contributes a deeper, caramel-like sweetness thanks to its higher molasses content. It gives warmth and a richer flavor that pairs really well with buttery popcorn.

How to Make Homemade Popcorn Seasoning

1. Blend: Add the 4 ingredients to a blender or spice grinder and blend until mixed well.

Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cheesecake Bars [+Video]

These Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cheesecake Bars will absolutely blow your mind! A rich, velvety layer of dulce de leche spread over a decadent Oreo crust, finished with a touch of flaky sea salt to create the perfect harmony of sweet and salty in every bite.

I’ve always been an admirer of Baker by Nature. Her recipes and photography are nothing short of magical. She gets it right every single time.

It’s rare for me to spotlight another blogger’s recipe, and it’s not because I don’t adore them (I absolutely do). The truth is, my brain is constantly overflowing with recipe ideas. There are so many that I can barely keep up, let alone make space for anyone else’s.

Seriously, you should see the never-ending list of recipes Cade and I have brainstormed. It’s hundreds deep, and my “finisher” personality struggles with it. Crossing off every recipe on that list would be the most satisfying thing ever. But for every one I check off, I come up with six more. The cycle never ends.

Then I came across these chocolate cheesecake bars, and I couldn’t stop thinking about them. You have to check out Baker by Nature’s stunning photos. They are pure art. But I kept imagining how perfect they’d be with a layer of dulce de leche. Once the idea hit, it became a must.

So, all my other recipes are on hold, and Cade’s are too. Grab your comfiest sweatpants, fire up Netflix, and settle in. These dulce de leche chocolate cheesecake bars are worth staying in for. Trust me, you won’t regret it!

Is Dulce de Leche the Same As Caramel?

Like caramel, dulce de lec

Texas Roadhouse Loaded Sweet Potato Copycat Recipe

Who doesn’t love that over the top Texas Roadhouse sweet potato?! Oh, Mama!! Check this copycat recipe out!!!!

Tender sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, that signature Texas Roadhouse honey cinnamon butter, and a heavenly caramel sauce. These sweet potatoes are the best side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just a nice Sunday dinner.

Why do I love Texas Roadhouse so much? Is it the house salad with that thick dressing and those darn hard boiled eggs? Is it those rolls that I shovel into my mouth faster than I can say, “one more please!” Actually, I probably am the rolls because I definitely don’t like how loud it is. Cade would for sure, 100% say it’s the Texas Roadhouse Loaded Sweet Potato. Hence this post and my need to create a copycat recipe.

Ingredients for Texas Roadhouse Sweet Potato Recipe

• Sweet Potatoes
• Mini Marshmallows
• Honey Cinnamon Butter: butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and honey
• Caramel Sauce: butter, brown sugar, honey

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling for all the details!!

How to Make Texas Roadhouse Sweet Potatoes

First you’re going to start with the butter and I cannot emphasize enough, real butter is necessary. No margarine. Sorry. And if you’re like us you’ll want to make extra for soft rolls like our famous potato rolls or homemade rolls.

Then there’s the caramel sauce. I really think this is more a dessert than anything else, but we can all pretend I didn’t say that when you eat it with your big, juicy steak at dinner. The caramel sauce actually keeps really well and heck, you could eat that caramel over ice cream if you wanted!

But really, these sweet potatoes are the best because it’s honey cinnamon butter, caramel and lots of gooey marshmallows. I tell Cade over and over it’s more like dessert than a side dish, but he just gives me that little smile and dives in.

All you do is bake the sweet potatoes, and then top with the butter, marshmallows, and caramel sauce. Then you bake it a little longer to get those marshmallows roasted, and you’re done! You could even switch the oven to broil to toast them up really quickly. You’ll only need a minute or so on broil, so keep a close eye on them!

Are Sweet Potatoes Healthier than Regular Potatoes?

Both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes are an excellent source of fiber with a great nutritional punch.

Sweet potatoes have fewer calories and fewer carbs, but more sugar. Sweet potatoes are also higher in fiber.

Sweet potatoes are higher in vitamin A, providing 400% of daily

Creamy toffee ice cream swirled with caramel sauce and then filled with bits of crunchy toffee is sure to satisfy any ice cream lover. 

Toffee Bits

The toffee in this ice cream introduces a rich, sweet, and slightly nutty flavor that complements the creamy vanilla base of the ice cream. As you take a bite, you’ll experience the creamy and cool vanilla, followed by bursts of caramel and a satisfying crunch from the toffee bits. 

While you can certainly make your own toffee bits, (with little more than a bit of butter and sugar), I typically take the easier route when making ice cream or baking these cookies and buy a bag of Heath toffee bits. 

Feel free to grab a jar of caramel sauce while you’re at the grocery store too, if making caramel sauce isn’t your thing. I have a weakness for this salted caramel sauce, so there’s almost always a jar tucked away in my fridge.

Heath Toffee Bits

Heath Toffee Bits are small, crunchy bits of toffee candy that are pre-packaged and ready for use in cooking and baking. These English toffee bits are essentially small, bite-sized pieces of toffee that have been broken into chunks or bits. They can be used to add a rich, buttery, and caramelized toffee flavor and a delightful crunch to various desserts and baked goods.

If you can’t find the toffee bits or want to try something a little different, you can also chop up some Heath bars and turn this into a chocolate-covered English toffee ice cream. When has the addition of chocolate to toffee or ice cream ever been a bad idea??

What’s the difference between toffee and English toffee? The main difference is that traditional English toffee is made without nuts, while American toffee is often made with a