Super Sinfuls

I can't believe these aren't in my blog recipe archive after as long as I've been reaching for the recipe. I've posted them on BakeBakeBake, but they aren't here. High time I fixed that.

Whenever I want to score points with Tim's coworkers (especially Rusty!), I send a pan of these with him to work. I've been making these since 1995. They've been a big hit since then. Simple to make, and delicious.

Today I'm making them for a bake sale at Tim's workplace to raise money for an employee who lost her entire home and car in the Joplin MO tornadoes a couple weeks ago. The tornado ripped the roof off the house, but the real damage happened in the subsequent three days of rain. Everything was lost to mold. She lost all her cookbooks, everything. Very sad. Tim suggested we pack up any cookbooks we aren't using and send them to her. I think I now know exactly what to do with all those Grandma Zucker and Grandma Keinath cookbooks we have piled in the basement.

Adapted from Marion Tincknell's submission to the Saginaw Symphony Chocolate Suite Cookbook

Super Sinfuls

2 C flour
1 C brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C quick cooking rolled oats (I have used old-fashioned oats without a problem)
1 C (2 sticks) butter
a generous 1 C caramel ice cream sauce
4 tb flour
12 ounces (one bag) semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the 2 cups flour, brown sugar, salt, soda and oats in a large bowl. Cut in butter until particles are fine. Reserve 2 cups of this mixture and press remaining into bottom of a greased 9 X 13 inch pan. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl combine the caramel sauce (purchased in a jar is fine, homemade is even better) and the flour. Pour/spread this mixture over the baked crust. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 12 to 15 minutes, or until a delicate brown. Cut into bars.

There are endless ways to customize these bars. I've thrown in M&M's and other Halloween candies. You could sub cinnamon chips and add spices. White chocolate chips. On and on...