Salted Caramel Brownies are moist and fudgy brownies with a caramel swirl and topped with more chocolate, caramel, and sea salt. If you just want a perfect pan of brownies, be sure to try my best brownies recipe!
Salted Caramel Brownies
It starts with fudgy brownies in this recipe, which is where my brownie mix comes in. It’s the same base I used for my Salted Caramel Brownie Marshmallow Hi-Hat treat. I love chocolate-covered caramels with sea salt, so that got me thinking. What if I paired the same thing with one of my favorite desserts, the brownie? Well, it’s what I expected…glorious!
Brownies Ingredients
There are three parts to this recipe–brownies, caramel swirl, and toppings.
Brownies: As I stated, the brownies are made from my brownie mix. You can make this up ahead of time by just mixing together the dry ingredients and putting them in an airtight container. I love to hand this out for gifts, too!
Caramel: You will need a cup of caramel bits for this recipe, or 5 1/2 ounces if using other sized caramels. The caramel will be melted with heavy cream. Most will be used as the swirl in the brownies, with a little bit reserved for the topping.
Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is at least 30% fat (as opposed to half and half, which is only 10-18% fat).
Chocolate Chips: Yes, I even added more chocolate to the brownies. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Salt: To give this dessert a salted caramel flavor, don’t forget to sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the chocolate and caramel. You could also use other coarse ground salts like kosher salt or Himalayan pink sea salt.
Brownie Base
Brownies are not hard to make; you mix the dry stuff with the wet stuff and bake. To make Salted Caramel Brownies start with the brownie base. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla together. Once combined, add in the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking soda). Pour in the melted butter and mix it until the butter is fully incorporated. Pour the batter into an 8-inch square baking dish and spread it out evenly in the pan.
How to Make Salted Caramel Brownies
Once the brownie batter is in the pan, melt the caramel bits with the heavy cream in the microwave. After the caramel is melted, reserve 1-2 tablespoons to use as the topping. Pour the rest of the caramel over the pan of brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the caramel into the batter.
Bake the brownies for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. When you remove the brownies from the oven, top with the chocolate chips. Let the chocolate sit on the brownies for a minute or two to melt a bit.
Then, spread the chocolate on top of the brownies. Finally, top the brownies with the reserved caramel and sea salt. If the caramel has hardened, simply pop it back into the microwave to melt it again.
Salted Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) butter, melted, then cooled
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (40g) cocoa powder, sifted
- ½ cup (64g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Caramel Swirl
- 1 cup (5.5 ounces) caramel bits
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Toppings
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (or more depending on preference)
Instructions
Brownie
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk two eggs with the vanilla.
- In a separate medium bowl, add in all dry ingredients. Gently stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Pour the melted butter into the brownie mixture and mix until the butter is no longer separated and the mix is fully combined.
- Spread batter into the prepared 8-inch square pan. Set aside as you melt the caramel.
Caramel Swirl
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the caramels with the heavy cream in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.
- Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of the caramel. Pour the rest of the caramel evenly over the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the caramel into the batter.
- Bake the brownies for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter.
Toppings
- After removing the brownies from the oven, immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Let the chocolate sit for a minute or two to melt. Then, using a knife or offset spatula, spread the chocolate over the brownies.
- Top with the reserved caramel sauce and sea salt. (If the caramel has hardened, simply warm it up in the microwave.)
- Let the brownies cool a bit before cutting into squares.
Did you make this recipe?
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Amazing
Shall try brownies
Can you use a brownie mux or choc cake mix instead?
What about the carmel bits, in a bag…they are by Kraft and are little round balls, unwrapped?
That’s what I was wondering. I bought them and am going to make the brownies with those instead of the wrapped caramels.
Would like to make for a 9×13 pan…. I would double the recipe, but am not sure about bake time. Thoughts.
Yummy to all your up
Where do you buy or how do you make the Beer Batter Dry Mix for the fish tacos please? And thanks
Try melting caramels with sweeten condensed milk and the caramel will not harden. I’m trying your recipe though. Yum!
Awesome.
Being in quarantine I cannot get out to buy caramels. Any substitution suggestions? I have condensed milk!