Pumpkin Caramel Oat Bars

I was tempted to not even post this recipe since these bars did not photograph very well.  But Ben brought some of the more attractive specimens up to work, and apparently they were devoured within an hour.  Some people at work asked for the recipe, and Ben assured them I would be posting on the blog.  So, despite the not so great photo, here they are.  These are tasty.  Pretty messy, and a little difficult to eat and cut, but oh so tasty.

This recipe is from the McCormick website, and I did use mostly McCormick spices.  Here is the link.  My vanilla was from Belize (thanks, Kate!) and my cinnamon was….not really sure where this container of ground cinnamon came from now that I think about it.  Anyway, all the spices make this a dessert that makes your entire house smell delicious.  I might have said this before, but I love fall baking.  Instead of using caramels that require a lot of tedious unwrapping I used those caramel pieces that come with the wooden sticks for making caramel apples.  Something I just do not get.  Caramel apples.  Who really eats those things?  It seems like too much work.

My bars did not cut out very neatly.  I might have needed to bake them a little longer.  I also think it would help to press the crumb topping into the caramel layer so that the crumbs don’t fall off the bars when they’re cut.  Regardless of looks though, these are quite good.  Enjoy! (more…)