cafe craving dream bars

By mitzzy

In other words it isn't your typical revel bar, but what you'd dream of if you could make it a little better. ;o) So I used my mom's recipe and just doctored it up a bit. After a few tries I came up with what tastes exactly like the Cafe Cravings' version. It is a DREAM

Ingredients

• 3 cups Quick Cooking Oats
• 2 1/2 cups A.P. Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Butter
• 2 cups Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 4 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips, semi-sweet
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy then add the eggs and 2 teaspoons of the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mix well.
5. Press 2/3 of the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.
6. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Once this is melted, take off heat and add the walnuts and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
7. Pour over the pressed crust.
8. Dot the chocolate with the remaining 1/3 cookie batter.
9. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. **Do not over cook--they will dry up and be *yuck*!!


**Over the Holidays I was making this and my oldest brother offered an idea which rocked my world..and the Dream Bars! Drizzle 3/4 caramel over the top before you bake it for a less messy bar OR if you want to drizzle it right after you take them out of the oven--either way WONDERFUL!!**