I've been on a bit of a caramel kick for a while now.
Mostly the homemade kind, but I have also been known to buy a bag of Rolos in a moment of weakness. And after I made homemade Twix bars a little while back, I got a bee in my bonnet to try caramel brownies.
I didn't have a recipe, so I decided to try combining my standard Caramels Bittman with my favorite brownie recipe. And voila! It worked pretty nicely.
Here's what I did:
- Prepared the brownie batter (I included lots of walnuts), divided it in two.
- Baked one half in a parchment-lined 8"x8" pan (let the parchment overhang on all sides) for about 15 minutes
- Remove brownie layer and await caramel application
- Meanwhile, cook caramel on stove
- I cooked mine to semi-solid...somewhere between sauce and chewy candy. I did this by sight, and tested dollops via cool water test 'til it was right
- Remove caramel from heat, pour over baked brownie layer
- Add remaining half of brownie batter overhead, smoothing & swirling as you like
- Bake for remaining time (15-20 minutes, maybe more!) I forgot to add this when I first posted - whoops.
I have to warn you that these are easily the single richest thing I've ever baked.
I'd wager a modest 2" or 3" square of this confection will knock out even the most hardened sweet-tooth. Also, I didn't wrap them tightly enough, so after a day or so, the caramel crystallized a bit and they became something like a brownie/praline bar (which, really, there are worse things.)
If you're feeling caramel-crazed and also a little bit wicked, highly recommended.
Happy weekend!
