Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

There are lots of great deals at the dollar store for every part of your house – even the pantry! If you’ve ever been wary of eating dollar store food, one bite of these insanely good cookie bars will make you a true believer. I tried this recipe out on friends and family and the response all around was that they are unbelievably good. These might even be the best cookie bars on the planet. Seriously.

With the exception of the butter and the sweetened condensed milk, every ingredient came off the shelves at Dollar Tree!

Make sure you also check out the list of over 50 holiday treats at the end of this post. It’s the most delicious list of sweets you’ll see this season!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg. (10 oz.) Coconut Bar cookies, crumbled (about 2 cups), $1
  • 3/4 c. butter, melted, on hand
  • 1 c. quick oats, on hand or $1
  • 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk, on hand or about $2 and up
  • 3 pkg. (3 oz.) mini caramel cups (about 1 2/3 cups), $3
  • 2 cans (3.5 oz.) cashew pieces, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups), $2

Total cost: $6 and up

Makes about 24 to 36 bars, depending on how large you cut them.

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan and set aside.

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Crush the whole package of coconut bar cookies into crumbs. The easiest way is to toss them in a food processor, but if you don’t have one, my favorite method involves putting the cookies in a Ziplock and pummeling them with my rolling pin. If you don’t like the flavor of coconut, you can substitute an equal amount of vanilla wafers.

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter until crumbs are well-coated. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Mix together a cup of oats and a can of sweetened condensed milk until the oats are thoroughly coated.

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Carefully spread the mixture in an even layer over the cookie crust.

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

The cashews come in pieces, but they’re still a little big. Coarsely chop them into more manageable bits. (This is another point where I found myself wishing that I had a food processor.)

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Here’s my favorite part of the recipe: the mini caramel cups! Oh my goodness they are delicious!

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Sprinkle the nuts and candies evenly across the surface of the oatmeal mixture. Gently press down to embed the nuts and candies into the layer below. Bake for about 22 minutes. Watch carefully for the last couple minutes of cooking time; when the candies around the edges of the pan start to cave in on themselves, it’s time to take them out!

Dollar Store Recipe: Chocolate Caramel Cashew Cookie Bars (and 50+ more sweet treats for the holidays!)

Cool bars to room temperature, then refrigerate for an hour before cutting.

If you enjoyed this recipe, we have good news! It’s part of a series of over 50 holiday treat recipes!

50+ Sweet Holiday Treats

Consider all of your holiday dessert needs fulfilled! Check out this list of over 50 delicious recipes: