Caramel Dark Chocolate Brownies

Even though it’s already June, our weather has been consistently crappy for the past week 🙁 It’s been rain, rain, hail, then some more rain. I hate rain, so why am I living in Vancouver?! No idea. I’m totally living in the wrong city. 

Worst part is that my mood is very weather dependent. Whenever it rains, the dark clouds just suck the life out me. Good thing for caramel brownies. Life is gouda when there are caramel brownies 😀

I baked a double batch of these because 1) more is better, 2) I knew that I would just drink half the batter and 3) because I knew that I would have to share, so I wanted to make sure I could AT LEAST get half a pan for myself :P. 

I came home from work the day after I made these and before I even took off my shoes, I went straight for the kitchen. But to my surprise, three quarters of the brownies were GONE! My jaw dropped and I had to lift it back up to my face. 

Turns out my brother’s friends ate them.

Teenage boys are monsters.

Caramel Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

9 oz (a little over 1 cup) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used unsweetened chocolate and ghirardelli dark chocolate chips)

1 1/2 cups sugar (I used a scant 1.5 cups)

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp instant espresso powder, optional (I omitted)

1/2 tsp sea salt (I used regular salt)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 batch caramel sauce 

How To

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet. 

2. Combine butter and chocolate in a microwavable bowl. Microwave at 30sec intervals just until the chocolate and butter are melted. Stir after each interval. 

3. With a whisk, stir in the sugar.  The mixture might get grainy, but it will even out.  Whisk in the eggs one by one, then add the vanilla and whisk enthusiastically to smooth the batter.  Finally, gently whisk in the salt and flour, stirring only until incorporated. 

4. Scrape HALF the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Then gently pour some caramel sauce over the brownie batter. Finish off with the rest of the brownie batter, being careful not to push the caramel out to the sides. Drag a knife through the batter to marble the caramel and brownie batter.

5. Bake the brownies until the top is dull and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, usually about 40 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the brownies to room temperature. Only cut when they are FULLY cooled. Brownies are high maintenance like that 😛

Brownie recipe from Dorie Greenspan