Caramel-Layered Brownies

Caramel-Layered Brownies - made April 30, 2011 from Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Chocolate Recipes from Publications International (book #101)

It wasn't until I started this baking challenge that I realized how many books I have from the same author(s) or publishers.  The ones from Publications International tend to contain recipes likely sponsored by food companies' test kitchens since they always list the specific brand name ingredients to use.  I've omitted the brand names from the recipes so you should feel free to use the ones you prefer and already know works well (although, of course, the higher the quality, the better your results will be).  This is a recipe book that will likely appeal to less experienced bakers and/or those who like a lot of pictures with their recipes.  It's certainly induced me to try specific recipes over others when I see pictures of how good they look.

Caramel and chocolate is usually a crowd pleaser combination so I chose that to add to the bake sale goods.  I left out the nuts (of course) and the only issue I had with this recipe is that there wasn't enough of the batter on top to completely cover the caramel layer.  The recipe says to hold back 1 cup and I held back more than that since I knew I wanted to cover the entire caramel layer.  Didn't quite work out that way, partly because as the batter cools, it stiffens up so it's not as easy to spread thinly over the caramel layer.  So I sprinkled some chocolate chips over the top as well to try and cover up some of the caramel.

The frosting was probably unnecessary but still good

As the brownie baked, the batter on top spread out over the caramel so that was good.  The caramel only leaked through in a few spots.  It was a little hard to tell when this was done just relying on the toothpick test since some of the caramel also clings to the toothpick and makes it seem like raw batter.  So you might want to time this one.  I took it out when it was still a little underdone so separating it from the foil lining in the pan after it had cooled was a little difficult.  But not impossible since it was easy enough to peel the foil off if you up-end the brownie (which is one of the reasons why I always line my baking pans with foil when I use them).  The brownie turned out well but the caramel did make it a little sweet.  You won't taste the chocolate much on its own since the caramel layer blends in with everything.  It's not quite as distinct a layer as the recipe book picture makes it look.  Still a pretty good brownie if you have a good sweet tooth and want something chewy/fudgy.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups chopped nuts (optional)

14 ounces caramels

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1.     Heat the oven to 350⁰F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2.     In the top half of a double boiler, over hot water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until melted.

3.     Stir sugar into melted chocolate mixture.  Mix in eggs and vanilla until well blended.  Stir in flour.  Remove 1 cup of batter; set aside.  Spread remaining batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with chips and 1 cup of the nuts, if using.

4.     Melt caramels and milk over low heat, stirring constantly, until completely melted and smooth.  Spoon over chips and nuts, spreading to edges of pan.  Gently spread reserved batter over caramel mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup nuts, if using.

5.     Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out with fudgy crumbs.  Do not overbake.  Cool in pan, cut into squares.