Salted Caramel Brownies

These Salted Caramel Brownies have a gooey caramel layer on top of a fudgy espresso brownie. They’re easy to put together in under an hour, even if you’ve had problems with caramel brownies before. I promise.

So read on to learn how I turned my failed attempt at Smitten Kitchen’s salted caramel brownies into a much simpler version and all the fool-proof tips and tricks you could want – only if you want to. Otherwise grab your spatula, hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make salted caramel brownies!

Ingredients

While chocolate and peanut butter is by far the best combination of flavors, chocolate and caramel come in a close second, whether with a chocolate cake frosted with caramel icing or these chocolate caramel chip cookies.

• Chocolate – These triple chocolate brownies use three forms of chocolate – melted bar chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. Feel free to use either bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, but use the best chocolate you can.
• Espresso powder – Espresso powder brings out the taste of dark chocolate. I always have a jar of instant espresso in my pantry and use it in my triple coffee cookies, tiramisu cake, or coffee and walnut pound cake. I even use it in an espresso martini or mocktail espresso martini when I can’t get a shot of fresh espresso!
• Salted caramel – The homemade caramel topping is cooked separately from the espresso brownies, making it easier to control both the brownie texture and consistency of the caramel.

How to riff on this caramel brownie recipe

• For more espresso flavor, increase the espresso powder to two tablespoons or use coffee liqueur.
• Reduce the salt in the caramel to just a pinch for plain ole caramel brownies.
• Skip the caramel and added chopped cherries for cherry chocolate brownies!
• Use the caramel sauce as a filling in this triple layer chocolate cake.

Backstory: Smitten Kitchen’s Salted Caramel Brownies … fail

In the spirit of the Ugly Duckling Bakery, I occasionally share my mistakes, because getting things wrong is how we learn the most. Just check out my juniper lime drizzle cake for how much learning there can be!

The Smitten Kitchen caramel brownie recipe calls for making caramel, freezing it, mixing some into the brownie batter, and sprinkling the rest over the top. During baking, caramel bubbled through like a simmering soup and became burnt caramel before the brownie fully cooked.

Maybe I cut the frozen caramel pieces too small. Or maybe SK undercooks these ooey-gooey brownies so they’re like molten chocolate cake.

Either way, I decided her way wasn’t worth trying again. And instead of baking caramel into the brownies, I decided to try making the two components separately.

Recipe tips and tricks

In my recipe tests, I decided to make the caramel brownie components separately with a fudgy brownie base and a salted caramel topping. I started with my blackberry swirl cheesecake brownies, lightened them up, and added espresso powder. Making the brownies and caramel separately allows you to focus on making each one perfect.

The espresso brownie base

Step 1: Turn on the oven to heat it to 350℉. Then coarsely chop the chocolate and butter and melt them together in a double boiler or bowl over an inch of simmering water. When melting chocolate, the bowl should not touch the surface of the water. Set aside to cool.

Step 2: Line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment or aluminum foil. I find parchment easier because it doesn’t tear or stick.

You can use binder clips to help secure the parchment, but make sure to remove them before baking! Lightly butter the parchment or foil and set aside.

Step 3: Sift or whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt) together in a small bowl.

Step 4: Combine the sugar and eggs in the bowl of your stand mixer. You can also use a large hand mixer or beat by hand. Beat them together on medium speed until lightened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the vanilla and beat another minute.

Step 5: Slowly beat in the melted chocolate and butter. This step is why I like using a hand mixer – you can pour in the chocolate without getting it stuck on your mixer blades.

Step 6: Add the dry ingredients and mix on low.

Step 7: Mix in the chocolate chips by hand, then turn the espresso brownie batter out into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to get the brownie batter into the edges and corners of the baking pan, but don’t worry about making it perfectly smooth. Remove those binder clips!

Step 8: Bake the espresso brownies for 28 to 30 minutes until the top is slightly firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. If you’re not certain about your oven, please start checking it a few minutes early.

Make the salted caramel sauce while the brownies are baking.

Making the caramel

I recommend making your caramel immediately after putting the brownies into the oven. You want to add the salted caramel to the hot espresso brownies. Delay too long and you run the risk of needing to check your brownies at the critical parts of the caramel making. Ask me how I know…

You can use either the wet or dry caramel method here, whichever you’re more comfortable making. The wet method is a little more forgiving but takes more time because you have to evaporate the water you’ve added. Either way, please use a larger pan than you think you’ll need, because your caramel sauce will bubble up when you add the butter and cream.

Step 9: Over medium-low heat, heat the sugar or the sugar-water mixture until the sugar melts and gradually turns a deeper, darker color. Swirl the pan around occasionally, but don’t stir, or your caramel may crystalize.You’re looking for a deep amber color, the shade of a newish copper penny. If you smell any hint of burning, remove your caramel from the heat.

But don’t taste it! Caramelized sugar is very very hot!

Step 10: Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the softened butter, a few cubes at a time. Be careful not to slosh the caramel out of the pan.

Step 11: Stir in the warmed heavy cream, bourbon (if you’re using, which I would) and vanilla. The caramel may seize or form hard pieces when you add the liquid. Don’t panic.

My original recipe ended here. But I realized that I could get a more solid caramel layer by continuing to heat the caramel sauce. The first stage caramelizes the sugar; the second stage introduces some water and fat back into the caramel sauce and gives you a more predictable consistency.

So…

Return the pan to low to medium heat and cook, stirring gently, until the caramel reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit. This does mean you’ll need an instant read thermometer if you do this step. The caramel will still look fluid, but I promise you it will thicken as it cools.

Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the salt. Set aside until the brownies are finished baking.

Step 12: When the brownies are done, move the pan to a cooling rack and then pour in the caramel sauce over the cooked brownies. Use a spatula to spread the caramel layer evenly to the edges.

Let the pan cool. Once the pan is no longer hot to touch, you can chill the pan in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve. Chilling makes the brownies easier to cut.

To cut, trim the raised edges, if you like. Then cut the caramel-topped espresso brownies into 16 equal squares. Eat as is or try this: top your gooey caramel espresso brownies with flaky sea salt and serve with vanilla ice cream!

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