Milky Way Caramel Brownies

Milky Way Caramel Brownies - made June 1, 2012, brownie recipe adapted from Brownies and Blondies by Lisa Yockelson

I made the original version of this brownie awhile back but forgot to take a picture.  It called for melting some caramel with a little heavy cream then adding 1/2 cup of the brownie batter to it then you swirl the two batters together.  The caramel bakes into the batter to make it more moist but there wasn't enough pure caramel to be a "ribbon" or "swirl" of caramel running through it like I had envisioned.  So this time around, I left out the caramel mixture completely and instead added Milky Way Caramels into each brownie piece.  As an aside, I never knew there was such a thing as Milky Way Caramels.  I don't care for Milky Ways in general because they seem to just be nougat enrobed in chocolate but Milky Way Caramels are pure caramel enrobed in chocolate.  I call those "Rolos" but the Milky Way people made them into rectangles and called them Milky Way Caramels.  Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.

Anyway, I made these in a mini square brownie pan with a chopped up Milky Way Caramel in the middle of each square but if you don't have one, using a regular 9 x 9" baking pan will work just fine.  You can add the caramels directly into the batter for random placement or else pour the batter into the pan then push the caramel pieces into it.  Make sure you cover the caramels completely with brownie batter or the caramel will overbake and harden when it cools.  A little seepage is okay, and probably inevitable but try to cover them completely with batter when they go into the oven.  This was a good basic brownie, not as chocolatey or as rich as some others I've made but still pairs well with the caramel.

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsifted all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsifted cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 cup granulated sugar

3 extra-large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup Milky Way Caramels, chopped (use more if you wish)

9 x 9 x 2” baking pan

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     Thoroughly mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour and salt.

3.     Whisk the butter and chocolate in a bowl; beat in the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.  Add the dry ingredients and stir to form a batter.  Add Milky Way caramels.

4.     Pour and scrape the chocolate batter into the prepared pan; spread the batter evenly, covering any Milky Way Caramel pieces completely with batter.  Bake the brownies for 25 minutes, or until just set.

6.     Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a rack.  Cut into 2 ¼ by 2 ¼ inch squares.  Remove the brownies from the pan using a metal spatula.  Store in an airtight tin.