Salted Caramel Caramel Brownies

Salted Caramel Brownies - made February 26, 2013 from Flourishing Foodie

So good I had to use the name twice.  There's salted caramel layered inside and on top of the brownie and chunks of Milky Way caramels in the brownie itself.  I admit to cheating though as I didn't have whipping cream when I made this so I went with ready-made salted caramel from Trader Joe's.  I'm including the caramel recipe here though in case anyone wants to make it from scratch - something I plan to do "someday".  When I have time and ingredients on hand.  I added the Milky Way caramel chunks just to amp up the decadence because, you know, it's a brownie.  Decadence is in the definition.

If it seems like I've been making brownies a lot lately, it's because I am.  Which is a sign that I've been getting together with friends or coworkers and need something to put in goodie bags for them.  These particular brownies went into goodie bags for a team lunch we had last week.

It looks like it's sticking out a caramel tongue

Caramel Ingredients (I skipped this and used Trader Joe's salted caramel instead)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup full fat plain yogurt or sour cream

Brownie Ingredients

4 oz unsweetened chocolate {I used 99% pure chocolate}

1/2 cup butter, unsalted

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

sea salt or kosher salt for topping

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of sugar and 2 tbsp of light corn syrup on medium heat for 5 minutes. At this point the sugar should start to melt. Begin to stir the sugar continuously to prevent it from burning. Continue to cook the sugar for 5 more minutes, or until it starts to boil.

2. Once the sugar has started boiling, it should be light brown in color. Continue stirring until it has reached 350 F, or medium brown in color. Do not let the sugar burn, you will definitely be able to smell if it has burnt. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let sit for one minute.

3. Slowly whisk the cream into the melted sugar. Put the saucepan back on the burner and bring the caramel to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the yogurt. Place the caramel back on the stove and heat for 2 -3 minutes.

4. Remove the caramel from the heat and transfer to a glass mason jar or bowl and let cool to room temperature for 20 minutes in the fridge, or 1 - 2 hours on the counter. Don't worry if your caramel is runny, it will thicken once cooled. Once the caramel has cooled, preheat the oven to 325 F.

5. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and chocolate and then set to the side. In a large bowl whisk the sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Add in the warm chocolate to the egg mixture and stir. Next, add the flour and mix until all the ingredients are combined.

6. Line a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with foil and then spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the baking pan, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. 

7. Spread half of the caramel sauce over the brownie layer and save the rest for a rainy day. Gently top the caramel with the the remaining brownie batter. 

8. Bake the brownies for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, sprinkle sea or kosher salt on the top (I used fleur de sel), and continue baking for 5 more minutes. The brownies should be soft in texture. Do not overbake. 

9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Pull the brownie out of the pan using the foil overlap and cut into squares.