Caramel Brownies

It's been awhile since I tried out a new recipe, so I decided to for our family barbeque Monday evening. I tried out the Caramel Brownies from Annie's Eats, and I was very pleased with them. They're very good, but very rich. Now that I'm not eating sweets nearly as often, I found one to be plenty for me.

Caramel Brownies

Yield: 24+ brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1½ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups pecan, coarsely chopped (optional)
 *I didn't put pecans in mine, but I'm not a big fan of nuts.
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
*I also didn't put these in mine, because I thought they would be rich enough without them. I can't imagine the sugar overload if I had! :)

For the caramel filling:
14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil well with butter or cooking spray. Combine the butter and chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted. Remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until incorporated. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined. Spread about half of the brownie batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, maintaining the oven temperature, and let cool for 20 minutes.

While the brownies are cooling, add the chopped pecans (if using) to a medium skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and light golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside. To make the caramel filling, combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Stir in half of the pecans. Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie layer. Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer, taking care to pour and spread it evenly otherwise it will be difficult to spread evenly over the caramel layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and the remaining pecans on top of the final brownie layer. Bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving. (To speed cooling, chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.)

Lift the brownies from the pan using the edges of the foil. Remove the foil and cut the brownies into individual squares. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe from Annie's Eats

***Here's my notes on the recipe:
It would probably work better to grease the foil at the beginning with butter instead of cooking spray. I'm just guessing, but the edges of my brownies stayed with the foil instead of coming out nicely. Also, I had to cook my brownies for the second time (once they had the caramel and second layer of brownie) a little longer than 20 minutes, probably closer to 30. I don't know if it's my oven, or just that I didn't want them to turn out as gooey as they were after 20 minutes. Also, you definitely need to refrigerate or freeze the brownies before you cut them, because they fall apart if they aren't really firm.

If you're looking for a sugar rush, then this is the recipe for you! :)