EASY SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIES.

These brownie bites are moist, gooey, and delicious. The base is a simple brownie recipe that is easy and requires few ingredients. What makes them unique is the drizzled homemade salted caramel. A sauce that can transform a simple dessert into a delightful and almost addictive dessert.

Salted caramel can also be baked with the brownies, but it will be a bit more procedural. This can be done by dividing the brownie batter and baking the first layer first. Afterwards, drizzle the baked brownie with caramel, and top with the remaining uncooked brownie batter, then bake again for another few minutes. As I said, it’s procedural but can also be easy if you know your way around the kitchen.

Nevertheless, how do we define the perfect brownie? For me, it should be gooey, moist and fudgy as I imagine for most people. Almost like eating a soft, chewy bar of chocolate. However, some like cakey brownies and that is also okay. The key is to understand the role of each ingredient used in a brownie recipe.

Salted caramel brownies Ingredients

Eggs and egg yolks. Eggs define the structure, help bind the other ingredients, and add moistness to baked goods. Protein, fat and lecithin are present in the yolk. Lecithin, an emulsifier, enables it to have the ability to bind fats and liquids together. As a result, more egg yolks in the brownie batter will result in a moister brownie. In contrast, too many egg whites will result in a cakey brownie.

Brown sugar. For chewy and moist brownies I recommend using brown sugar.

A bar of good quality dark chocolate. Good quality dark chocolate should have a cocoa content of at least 70%, which is usually indicated in the package description.

All-purpose flour. Too much flour will result in a cakey and less gooey brownie and vice versa.

Unsalted butter. Suitable substitutions for unsalted butter are coconut oil or vegetable oils. Melted unsalted butter, as used in this recipe, mimics oil while also adding a buttery flavour to the brownies.

Vanilla extract. Vanilla, as used in most chocolate recipes, enhances the chocolate flavour in baked goods.

Cocoa powder. Dutch-process cocoa, or, Alkalized cocoa works best for an intense chocolate flavour. Note that cocoa powder dries out baked goods this is why I used more egg yolks and brown sugar to counteract that effect.

Salt.

Salted caramel sauce. To drizzle on the brownies.

Tips and tricks.

• Use Good Quality Dark Chocolate. Good quality dark chocolate should have high cocoa content of 70% and above.
• For fudgy brownies use more chocolate, butter and egg yolks. The mixing method also plays a major role when determining a brownie texture. Melting oil with chocolate will result in a fudgy texture, while creaming butter with sugar can result into a cakey brownie.
• Don’t skip the vanilla extract .
• Salted caramel brownies will taste better when indulged on the next day.

How to make salted caramel brownies step by step.

Preheat oven to 150 Celsius. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, and cocoa powder and set aside.

Mix the unsalted butter with the chopped dark chocolate in a bowl and place it on a pan filled with simmering water on a stove. After the butter and chocolate completely melt, remove from heat and whisk to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

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In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and beat thoroughly.

Afterwards, pour in the melted chocolate-butter mixture, little by little whisking at every point to make sure everything is well combined.

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Fold in the flour mixture with the wet ingredients, carefully to avoid overmixing.

Bake at 150 Celcius for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and set aside to completely cool to room temperature. However, to fasten the cooling process set them in the fridge just for a few minutes.

Drizzle with Salted Caramel and serve.