ShareThisHere’s a caramel brownie from yesterday.
They’re firm when chilled, but they soften a little up at room temperature. I’m packing them in cellophane bags (see below) while they are firm. We’ll see how they fare sitting on a table in the Texas sunshine.
This recipe, which is based on Rebecca Rather’s, is my favorite. I use to halve it and bake it in an 8 inch square pan. Now I just make the whole batch and freeze what I don’t need right away.
Don’t try to cut these too soon because they will be gooey. I recommend making them a day ahead so you can chill them overnight. I set mine on a huge cutting board and slice them with a buttered chef’s knife.
Caramel Filled Brownies
1 cup whole pecans (more or less, RR uses 1 ½ cups)
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter (8 oz)
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (14 oz) bag of caramels
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more if you like)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pecans on a cookie sheet and toast for 7-9 minutes or until aromatic. Let cool. When cool, chop.
Meanwhile, line a 13×9 inch pan with Release foil or parchment paper. You could also just line with foil and spray the foil. Make sure to spray the sides so the caramel won’t stick to the sides.
Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and repeat until smooth. Let cool for about 5 minutes. While chocolate cools, in a separate bowl beat sugar and eggs on high speed of an electric mixer for 3 entire minutes. Beat in vanilla. Stir chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Using a mixing spoon or wire whisk, stir in flour and salt. Pour about half of this batter into the lined pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Cool for 20 minutes. While first layer cools, prepare filling.
Unwrap caramels (ack! Why don’t they make unwrapped caramels!) and put them in a saucepan with the 1/3 cup of cream. Heat on medium low, stirring often, until caramels are melted. Stir about half of the chopped pecans into the caramel. Pour the caramel mixture over the brownie layer.
Spread the remaining brownie mix over the caramel filling. It is kind of tricky, so do your best, but don’t worry about covering all the caramel. Scatter chocolate chips and remaining pecans over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for another 20 minutes or until the top batter appears set but not dry. Allow brownies to cool completely (this should take a few hours). I like to cool them and then chill them because it makes slicing easier.
Lift brownies from pan and place on a big cutting board. Slice into whatever size you feel like.
You are bad, bad, bad!!! LOL! I am trying to lose weight….soooooo, maybe this isn’t the blog I should be reading every day??? If only I could send the *extras* to work with my husband…he refuses to take treats of any kind to his workplace because he says his co-workers don’t *deserve* them.
Bev, I guess you could use some sort web site blocking software on me
. Or maybe just look at the pictures instead of actually baking.
A lot of people seem to be dieting right now. Guess it’s swimsuit time.
I was going to make these, but suddenly DC has gone from 40 degree winter days to 80 degree summer days with no Spring in between.
Well, that and I didn’t want to unwrap a whole package of caramels. I would probably just end up eating them.
I just made these last night for some friends. Holy cow are these sweet!! I only had about 1/2 bittersweet so the other 9 oz. I replaced with semi sweet which is part of the issue. They certainly are good though. The reynolds wrap trick did NOT work for me so my brownies did not come looking as nice as yours. We had 8 kids here last night and they polished off 90% of the brownies so they didn’t care how they looked. Thanks for the nummy recipe!
Debbi, did you by any chance use the wrong side of the Reynolds Wrap? One sides is non-stick — the dull side. And of course, I’m referring the the “Release” variety, not regular Reynolds Wrap foil.
Weird about the sweetness. They seem to have a normal sweetness level to me.
Keep them in the refrigerator and you will find they get better with age!
These are amazing!! I made them for a party and everyone was blown away; my friend even asked for the recipe. I used Ghiradelli 60% bittersweet chips for the brownie and instead of using unwrapped caramels and cream, I just used a jar of caramel ice cream topping and thickened it with about a tablespoon of flour. I also omitted the nuts and the salt(I used salted butter). Delicious and very rich! I give it 5 stars
These are amazing!! I made them for a party and everyone was blown away; my friend even asked for the recipe. I used Ghiradelli 60% bittersweet chips for the brownie and instead of using unwrapped caramels and cream, I just used a jar of caramel ice cream topping and thickened it with about a tablespoon of flour. I also omitted the nuts and the salt(I used salted butter). Delicious and very rich! I give it 5 stars
Thanks for the review, Caitlin. I’m glad you brought this recipe to my attention today because I’m working on a Top 5 list and this one is one of my Top 5 brownies.
These are just what I’m looking for, thanks. It’s so hard to find a caramel brownie recipe online that doesn’t cheat and use a cake mix! (Which is not as good. Ever.) All your recipes look good – I’ll have to remember this website’s name.
I love this recipe! I just omit the nuts, use semisweet chocolate chips instead of bittersweet (which I would actually prefer, but my friends prefer sweeter. Haha, just a sophisticated 17 year old palette I guess) and use Werther’s soft caramels. So much fun to make too! I need to learn how to develop my own recipes in the future! I posted it on my blog and gave you recognition for it, since you’re pretty much a genius. :]
These are awesome brownies! Really decadent. My husband LOVES them.