Fudgy Chocolate Brownies With A Layer Of Soft Salted Caramel Baked Right Through The Center

My fudge brownies are one of my favorite, go-to dessert recipes whenever I’m craving a sweet treat, and I’m so happy that the recipe made it into my debut cookbook!! Today I wanted to see what would happen if I took that same batter and split it right down the middle with a soft, salted caramel center.

You get the same fudgy, crackly-top brownie that you get with the original recipe, except now every single piece has a pocket of delicious homemade caramel running straight through the middle of it. It’s one of the best combinations, and I can’t wait for you to try it!

Few tips ᝰ.ᐟ

• Make your caramel first and let it cool and thicken. If it’s still warm and too liquidy it’ll sink straight through your bottom layer and you’ll end up with caramel pooled on your parchment instead of in the center of your brownies.
• Watch your sugar closely once it starts to melt for the caramel. You want a deep amber, about the color of a copper penny. Past that it goes bitter quite fast, so don’t walk away from the pan.
• Leave a small border of bare batter around the edges when you spoon the caramel on. If it touches the sides of the pan it’ll bubble up and over while baking, unless that’s the look youre going for (I personally love it)
• These need a longer to cool than a regular pan of brownies, closer to 2 hours. The caramel center needs time to firm back up. If you cut into them warm you’ll get a melty, oozy slice. Delicious, but messy, and not what you want for clean squares
• A sprinkle of flaky sea salt right on top the moment they come out of the oven is also one of my favorite finishing touches

Process:

Salted Caramel Stuffed Brownies

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies With A Layer Of Soft Salted Caramel Baked Right Through The Center

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Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 9 or 16

Ingredients

  

Salted caramel

• 200 grams Granulated sugar 1 cup
• 85 grams Salted butter, cubed 6 tbsp
• 120 ml Heavy cream 1/2 cup
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Brownies

• 300 grams Semisweet chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups (or preferred chocolate bar)
• 170 grams Unsalted butter, chopped 3/4 cup
• 40 grams Unsweetened cocoa powder 1/3 cup
• 1 tsp Espresso Powder
• 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon optional
• 3 large Eggs
• 300 grams Granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups
• 2 tbsp Light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 125 grams All-purpose flour 1 cup
• 2 tbsp Powdered milk
• 1 tsp Fine sea salt
• Flaky sea salt, for topping optional

Instructions

 

Salted caramel

• Add the granulated sugar to a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan in an even layer over medium heat. Let it sit and melt without stirring too much at first, just an occasional swirl of the pan. It'll go from white, to clumpy, to clear, to a deep amber. You want it the color of a copper penny. Keep a close eye on it once it starts to color, it can go from perfect to burnt in under a minute
• The moment it hits that deep amber, pull it off the heat and immediately whisk in the salted butter. It's going to bubble up hard, that's completely normal, just keep whisking until it's fully melted in (the butter will not fully incorporate, it will leave a greasy film, that's normal!)
• If you want more control over the salt in your salted caramel, you can use unsalted butter, then add fine sea salt to taste
• Slowly stream in the cream while whisking constantly. It will bubble up again, even more than the butter did. Once it's all in, whisk until smooth and glossy. you might need a bit of elbow grease, but that's normal as well!
• Whisk in the vanilla. Pour the caramel into a heatproof bowl and let it cool at room temperature while we work on our batter

Brownie Batter

• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving enough of an overhang on two sides to lift the brownies out later
• In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate chips and unsalted butter and melt together over medium-low heat, stirring frequently with a silicone spatula
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, espresso powder, and cinnamon if using
• Once the chocolate and butter have fully melted, turn off the heat and immediately whisk in the cocoa mixture until smooth
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light, fluffy, and slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. You'll know it's ready when you can rub a bit of the mixture between two fingers and barely feel any sugar granules left
• On low speed, slowly mix the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, scraping down the bowl as needed so everything is fully combined
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered milk if using, and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients on low speed (or using a rubber spatula) and mix just until no streaks of flour remain. Don't overmix

Assemble and bake

• Pour exactly half of the brownie batter into the lined pan and spread it into an even layer with a rubber spatula
• Drop spoonfuls of the caramel evenly over the batter, Take it all the way out to the edges if you want pools of caramel pulling up to the surface as they bake, or leave about a 1/2-inch border bare around all four edges if you'd rather keep it fully enclosed in the center. Gently spread the caramel into a single layer with the back of a spoon, trying not to disturb the batter underneath too much
• Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer and spread it carefully to cover everything completely, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The edges should be set and the center will still have a slight jiggle when you gently shake the pan. You may see a little caramel bubbling up at the very edges, thats normal even if you left a little boarder

Cool and slice

• Remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours. This is a longer cool than the hour that I normally recommend for a normal batch of brownies, but the caramel center needs the time to firm back up. If you're impatient like me, finish the cool with 30 minutes in the fridge
• Once fully cooled, use the parchment overhang to lift the brownies out of the pan and cut into 9 large squares or sixteen small squares. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over the top before serving if you'd like
• And you're done !