Eating one of these brownies! I've been on a search for the most perfect brownie recipe and I do believe I've found it. I was very disappointed at the beginning of my search and threw away a few batches because the brownies were dry and tough. I found out that the flour my father-in-law had in the canister was "better for bread" flour. OH MY! No wonder they were all wrong! I like mine...well, perfect. Not too cakey, not too fudgey, not too chewy. But somewhere right in the middle of those three.
I started on this journey for one reason...besides the obvious ( I wanted to eat lots of brownies) and that was to show my darling husband that the box mixes are not the best. Grrrr! The Foodie's husband likes boxed mixes better than homemade. I'll not have it! he hee! Now, while on this journey, I began realizing how much healthier homemade brownies are than boxed brownies...no chemical, no preservatives, nothing artificial! Yes, they're loaded with butter and sugar but everything in moderation is a good thing. Although, it's really difficult to be moderate when it comes to these babies!
Done talking...on to the brownies!
You must make this caramel sauce! It is absolutely divine! I reduced the amount of sea salt because the original recipe was way too salty. Phew! But make it ahead of time and give it time to cool a bit while you make the brownies!
Sea Salt Caramel Brownies
Sea Salt Caramel
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla
* 1/4 cup sour cream
In a small saucepan, combine the cream and the salt. Simmer over very low heat until the salt is dissolved. set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and corn syrup carefully. They will not combine well until the sugar begins to melt. (It will seem ridiculous at first but keep at it, scraping the mixture off the spoon so that all the sugar cooks at the same time and temp.) Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350 degrees, 6 to 8 minutes. Without a thermometer, just pull the sugar off the heat when it is a medium goldish brown – it will continue to cook in the heat of the pan. Better to pull it too early than too late. Remove from the heat and let cool for one minute.
Add the cream mixture and the vanilla to the sugar mixture. Do this carefully! The mixture will steam and sputter while you drizzle it in. Use a large wooden spoon for this step. Keep stirring even if you get some clumps. It will be OK. Whisk in the sour cream. Let the caramel cool to room temp, then follow the brownie instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate any leftover caramel. it makes a great ice cream topping or tastes great straight out of the jar. Yes, do this. Spoon it straight from the jar and indulge...after it's cooled of course.
Brownies
• 4 ounces Semi-sweet chocolate (Ghirradeli's is the best)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs
1 C Cake flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup Chocolate Syrup
• half of the above caramel recipe
Preheat oven to 325F.
Melt Chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until well combined
Add flour, salt, chocolate syrup and chocolate mixture and blend well.
In a greased 8×8 pan, pour a little over half of the brownie batter and bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and pour in the caramel. On top of the caramel, add the rest of your brownie batter. If it doesn’t pour smoothly, just plop it in a swirl it around a little bit. (I once added a bit of water (not much) to the leftover batter with good results). Return to oven and bake for another 18-22 minutes. Brownies will still appear a little shaky, due to the caramel, but they will firm up once cooled. Do not over-bake them.
I have found it a very good idea to bake these in a stoneware baking dish (I used Pampered Chef) but glass is not a good idea. It cooks the brownies too quickly on the outside and then the edges harden and dry out. Ick! It's also worth mentioning, if you use a cheap rubber spatula to stir the caramel, you will lose at least half of the end of the spatula before you realize that bits of it are swimming through your caramel. Yeh, learned that one on my own!! Use the good stuff! Stay with wooden or use Pampered Chef....they have one that withstands temps up to 500*F I believe.
Once the Brownies have cooled enough to eat, make sure you have a large glass of milk in the waiting (or coffee if you drink it without sugar) you will need something substantial to wash these down!! They're just that good!
Do you have a decadent brownie recipe you'd like to share? Send it to me and I'll post it on this page!!
