With a river of caramel running through the middle of each one, these Chocolate Caramel Brownies are next-level goodness. Gooey, chewy and rich, the caramel is just 2 ingredients and you can have these in the oven in less than 20 minutes.
The brownie base is my absolute favourite, never-need-another, brownie recipe and with the perfect crackly top and that hit of caramel they are also seriously addictive. If you love blondies too, try these Brownie Blondies.
I love simple recipes like this. I also love the fact that you can get all the dry ingredients mixed together and stored in your pantry ready to go at a moments’ notice. Ok, so with this recipe, having a mix ready to go will only save you 5 minutes, but 5 minutes is 5 minutes. Especially when chocolate is involved 🙂
What kind of brownie do you love most?
There are different types of brownies, from fudgy to cakey to gooey brownies just like these. While my favourites are either fudgy or gooey, even the cakey style have their place. But not today.
This brownie from scratch recipe is one I now adapt for all my brownie recipes. It makes a perfect fudgy brownie, ready for add-ins, like these Drunken Hazelnut Cranberry Brownies or a great base for topping like these Fudgy Marshmallow Brownies or my Chocolate Coconut Brownies.
To make them gooey, you can just underbake them slightly or add caramel like I have here.
How to make caramel brownies from scratch
No packet mixes here because they’re so quick you don’t need it. Making caramel brownies from scratch means you get to control what goes into them and they are truly easy to do. There is no need to par-bake a base, just mix up the batter then layer it right in the tin before baking.
- Make sure to beat the sugar and eggs until it’s really light and fluffy,
- then gently stir in the melted chocolate and butter.
- Next, add the dry ingredients
- and again, very gently fold them through.
- Spread 1/3 of the batter into the base of a prepared tin, then make little dents all over. Pour over the caramel, right to the edges. Lots of it will settle into those dents.
- Now dollop spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the caramel (this makes it easier to spread)
- Once you’ve dropped all the batter over the caramel,
- gently spread it out so that you don’t disturb the caramel layer.
Storage
These brownies are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- A few minutes out of the fridge, the caramel is still chewy
- At room temperature, the caramel will soften a bit and may start to ooze down the sides.
Both ways taste amazing so pick whichever way appeals to you most.
Can you freeze caramel brownies?
Yes, you can freeze Chocolate Caramel Brownies for up to 3 months.
Start by putting the cooled brownies on a baking tray in the freezer until they’re solid. For best results, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, then place them in an airtight container or zip lock bag.
Substitutions
- Dutch processed cocoa – I use this mainly for its dark colour in this recipe so you can absolutely swap it out for standard unsweetened cocoa.
- Caramel – Did someone say peanut butter or maybe nutella?
- Caramel filled chocolate bars – I did loads of testing on this recipe before arriving at this perfect ratio of caramel to brownie. You can use caramel filled chocolate like Rolos or Cadbury Caramello but the ratio of caramel to brownie is much reduced, especially since you’ll be adding evne more chocolate to the mix.
I think that’s enough talking for today because you have some Chocolate Caramel Brownies to make. Believe me, these will disappear quickly.
Other recipes you might like
- Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies
- Fudgy Marshmallow Brownies
- Chocolate Brownie Pie
- Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Salted Caramel Brownies
- Try this classic homemade caramel sauce too.
Chocolate Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
- 190 g store-bought soft caramels (Werthers work best)
- 1 ½ tablespoons thickened (heavy) cream (notes, 6 tsp)
- 85 g unsalted butter (¾ stick)
- 75 g dark (70%) chocolate, roughly chopped
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 98 g plain (all-purp) flour (¾ cup)
- 33 g dutch processed cocoa (notes, ⅓ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Grease and line an 8x8 inch square baking tin with baking paper.
- Over low heat and stirring constantly, melt together the caramels and cream in a saucepan until smooth. Set aside
- Place the butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each until melted and smooth. Set aside.
- Place both sugars and the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk with a handheld mixer for around 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy (or in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 3-5 minutes)
- Add the melted chocolate and butter and stir through with a spatula.
- Sift over the plain flour, cocoa and salt and stir through with a spatula until just combined.
- Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin and make a few dents with a spoon (where the caramel can pool).
- Drizzle the caramel all over letting it pool in the dents (if it's no longer runny, heat it very slightly until it is).
- Drop spoonfuls of the remaining half of the brownie mixture all over (it's hard to spread so dropping it randomly is easiethen just lightly spread to cover the caramel.
- Bake for around 24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with some sticky crumbs on it (see notes).
Notes
- I use a standard Australian tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide)
Cream in this recipe is for 6 teaspoons - You can use regular unsweetened cocoa if you can't get dutch processed.
- Brownies are done when a toothpick comes out with a few sticky crumbs on it. They will carry-over bake in the tin.
- Toothpick comes out with wet mix - not done
- Toothpick comes out with sticky crumbs - DONE
- Toothpick comes out with no mix or crumbs - overdone (save these for serving with ice cream - yum)
This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission for my referral, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Sugar Salt Magic.
6 Comments on “Chocolate Caramel Brownies”
I really don’t like dark chocolate. What can I use as a substitute?
Hi Hope. Don’t worry, they don’t taste like dark chocolate. It’s important to balance the sweetness of the brownies overall. If you use a 50% cocoa solids chocolate, they’ll still be have balance but be slightly sweeter than the 70%.
Absolutely agree to Leanne. Printing this one to add to the baking list in my kitchen 🙂
Aww thank you so much 🙂
After you posted these on IG, I had to check out your recipe! They look amazing Marie! Brownies are great on their own, but adding a layer of caramel makes them irresistible!
Thanks so much Leanne. Being a total caramel addict, it totally tops off a good fudgy brownie for me 🙂