Salted Caramel Brownies

I recently failed at making brownies. I tried to make them healthier. I failed. Then I figured, "why on Earth should I try to make brownies healthy?!" Brownies are one sweet that are at their best when chock full of butter, sugar, chocolate, and (in this case) salted caramel sauce.

This recipe comes from a friend of a friend. I only modified* it because I do not have a 13x9 inch pan. This recipe works great for either an 8x8 or a 9x9.

Salted Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp water

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp sea salt (fluer de sel)
2 tbsp sour cream

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Boil for about 6-8 minutes until an even, deep amber color. Caramel goes from brown to black in a hot second, so be watchful. Add the cream. It will sputter and seize and be all kinds of angry. Whisk away until everything calms down. Add the salt and whisk. Add the sour cream and whisk until smooth, slightly salty, and slightly tangy. This is the most delicious caramel sauce. Ever.

Brownies

1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup ghiradelli dark chocolate chips (roughly half of a bag)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Mise-en-freaking-place

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 or a 9x9 pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, buttering the paper afterwards.

In a large metal bowl over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate chips together. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.

Once the butter and chocolate is melted, add in the vanilla and the sugars. Stir until combined and cooled down. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing by hand until incorporated. Be careful not to over mix. Add the flour mixture and fold it in, again being careful to mix only until combined.

The mixture will be rather gloppy. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the batter. Pour about 3/4 of the caramel over the batter, swirling it into the batter. Add the rest of the brownie batter and do the best you can with it. The caramel will peek out, so stir until you're satisfied. These guys are meant to be messy, but they'll bake up just fine.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes for the 8x8 pan, rotating the pan halfway through. If you use the 9x9 pan, I would reduce the cooking time by at least 5 minutes. As always, check the brownies for doneness sooner rather than later. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Top the brownies with the remaining caramel and a sprinkling of extra sea salt. Cool completely before cutting and serving.



*To make the recipe as it was originally double everything. The flour would actually become 1 1/4 cups, though, you would use 5 eggs, and you would want to use the entire bag of the chocolate chips.