Over Thanksgiving break, my younger sister brought me a version of these treats from my former (her current) English teacher from our small school in rural Missouri. At first glance, they didn’t call to me, make me break into a sweat, or cause my salivary glands to backfire, three things that happen immediately when I watch Riverdance smell mac and cheese. However, when I put one of these bad boys in my mouth for the first time…
Homygay!
It was literally all I could do to not run to the bathroom, treats in hand, lock the door and intimately binge eat until I purged and started over. But, due to my impressive willpower, the treats, and I, survived.
What came out of this experience was a newfound favorite sweet treat. We tweaked the recipe a bit and made them in a muffin pan to totally envelope the caramel and chocolate, but if you are a lazy person short on time, feel free to replicate this using a 13×9 baking dish and cut into squares.
*We prefer Plugra butter for the high-fat content, and are in deep, deep LOVE with Somebody’s Mother Caramel Sauce. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, place first 6 ingredients and stir until well combined. Divide mixture into two and set one half to the side. Spoon about 1/4 cup of mixture into each cup of a greased muffin pan and press well to flatten and pack. Place in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until edges are starting to brown. Remove from oven and while batter is still hot, sprinkle about 10-15 chocolate chips over each crust. Next, drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons of caramel sauce over chocolate chips, try not to get caramel near edges as it will stick. Finally, top each cup with about a 2 tablespoons of remaining crust mixture and press as well as you can to cover the top. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Bake for an additional 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Some may bubble up over the rims of the cups, and that’s ok. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Run a sharp knife around the rim of each carmelita and invert muffin pan onto a cooling rack to cool. Trim any “spillover” that my have occurred. Then eat it. Carmelitas can be served hot or cold, store in refrigerator. Amazing when topped with brandy ice cream (recipe to come), as is just about anything.
makes 15