With these Autumn Everything Bars, you don’t have to settle! You get an oatmeal cookie base, a cream cheese center, and an oat toffee crumb streusel with caramel drizzle.
The wind nips at you a little more. The mornings are brisk with cool condensation. You pull the collar of your jacket up a little closer to your neck. Autumn is officially here.
Autumn Everything Bars embody this season. An oatmeal cookie base is soft and chewy, but sturdy for easy cutting. The cream cheese center is rich, fragrant with vanilla, and acts as a reprieve to the hearty oat filled bottom and top. The streusel is crunchy with buttery toffee bits, chopped pecans, and rolled oats. And—just to make it even better—a drizzle of caramel laces all of the layers together.
It may seem like a lot of components, but there’s nothing difficult about these bars. Par-baking the base the day before ensures an easy assembly. The cream cheese filling mixes up quickly, and the streusel comes together with a few quick kneads of a fork. I opted for caramel squares that you melt in the microwave. If you want to get all fancy, you can make your own caramel, but this shortcut doesn’t detract from the overall flavor.
It may feel impossible, but refrigerating these bars make for easy serving. The warm, crunchy, buttery, and creamy components of these Autumn Everything Bars make a well rounded and satisfying fall treat!
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- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup toffee bits
- ½ cup roasted and chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, cubed and softened beyond room temperature
- 12 caramel squares
- 2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch metal baking dish with tin foil, ensuring there is an overlap. Generously spray foil with baking spray, set aside.
- Whisk flour, oats, baking soda, and salt together. In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter in 30 second intervals. Once melted, whisk in brown sugar, vanilla, and egg. Pour wet into dry, stirring to combine. Pour batter into prepared dish and par bake for 12 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Respray the sides of the pan with baking spray, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until well blended and lump free, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Follow by adding vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour cream cheese mixture over oatmeal bar layer, using an offset spatula to even out layer.
- combine brown sugar, flour, oats, toffee, pecans, and salt in a medium bowl. Add in cubed butter. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend butter, creating a unified crumbly mixture. Dollop large crumbs of streusel evenly on top of cream cheese layer.
- Bake for 25 to 30 mixtures until cream cheese mixture looks mostly set. Cool for 2 hour, preferably overnight for easy cutting. When you're ready to serve, melt caramels with 2 to 3 tablespoons of whole milk, stirring in 20 second intervals until smooth and runny. Drizzle caramel onto bars. Lift foil out of pan, cut bars, and serve.
