Two Dollar Bars

I recently lost my Aunt Dorothy. She was 93 and lived a good life always on the home farm which she loved. My Aunt Dorothy was one of those people who lived her religion. She hosted many family reunions on the farm and loved to entertain family. Because of her, I love to cook. From the time I was very young she was my mentor in the kitchen. She kept our Norwegian heritage alive by cooking Lutefisk and Lefse every Christmas Eve along with goodies such as kringler, krumkake, fattigman and Komla. I make some of these goodies for my own family. She was adored by her family and will be missed.

Today I am sharing a bar recipe I received from my Aunt Dorothy. If she knew I was coming to visit she had them made to go with coffee. When I read the recipe I had to smile. She called them “ Two dollar bars”. You know its an old recipe - nowadays they more accurately could be called “ Ten dollar bars”.  I hope you like them too.

Two Dollar Bars:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

1 bag caramels (approx. 32)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix together the above ingredients and pat 1/2 of the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees, meanwhile melt 32 caramels with one can sweetened condensed milk, cool. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips over crust then pour caramel over chips and sprinkle remaining crumbs over the top. Bake another 15 minutes at 350 degrees.