CARAMEL PEANUT BARS

Here, rich chocolate, crunchy peanuts and gooey caramel peek out from between golden oat and crumb layers. Delicious!

—Ardyce Piehl, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Prep: 25 min. Bake: 15 min. + cooling Makes: 3 dozen

• 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup butter, melted
• 1 pkg. (14 oz.) caramels
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 ½ cups (9 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup chopped peanuts

1. In a bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients; stir in butter. Set aside 1 cup for topping. Press remaining mixture into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

2. In a heavy saucepan or microwave, melt the caramels with cream, stirring often. Sprinkle chocolate chips and peanuts over the crust; top with the caramel mixture. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note: This recipe was tested with Hershey’s caramels.

1 bar: 197 cal., 10g fat (5g sat. fat), 16mg chol., 113mg sod., 27g carb. (19g sugars, 1g fiber), 3g pro.