Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Who loves Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies:  ME ME ME! These brownies are so good that it’s bad.  It’s extremely difficult to walk past the box on the counter without hunching over the work surface and taking a large bite out of ANOTHER one.

My experimentation to get a gooey caramel filling that:

a) Didn’t just melt into the brownie mix, leaving the bottom of the brownie lovely and caramelized, but the gooey centre indistinguishable from the rest of the brownie
and
b) Produced a lovely pocket of caramel that stretched and oozed when you bit in – regardless of whether the brownie was warm or had cooled completely,

meant that I had to knock up a few of these sinful little Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies treats.  I ended up sending my last batch into work with Chris just to remove the constant temptation.

Fortunately having the kids off school for the half term holidays means that I’ve had more opportunity to run around and work them off!

I’ve also been into the craft box, busily making some new photography boards this week.

My stash of dishes, tableware and fabrics for the blog is increasing all the time.  It’s like shoes – you can never have too many! I’m finding that I’m getting a bit limited on base surfaces though.  My most recent favourites have been an old pallet as seen here and here, and also the large piece of slate I’m using for the photo above.  I was overjoyed when we found them at a demolition yard a couple of months ago.  The experience really showed off my lack of bargaining skills though.  I tried to play it cool, asking the guy behind the counter what he was looking for, for these two old bits.  He replied ‘£6 for the slate, and what do you think for the pallet?’

Totally off guard, I replied ‘erm err £4??’.  He laughed and told me he was thinking I could have had it for free.

Doh! what an idiot.  Chris just chuckled and shook his head whilst I mumbled an embarrassed thanks, paid the man and ran off.

So, keen not to repeat the incident, I went to the hardware store and got some tongue and groove for my latest lot.  I’ve been trying a technique to get an old, peeling paint effect which has worked out pretty well.  Hopefully I’ll get them finished this week so I can start using them yay! (and way less expensive than shoes!)

Right, back to the Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies recipe 🙂

It’s a pretty easy recipe, that basically involved the whisking of eggs (yolks too) and sugar until they’re thick and creamy.  This is going to ensure you get a good amount of air into the brownies to stop them being too heavy.  It also helps to create an almost meringue-like crisp top to the brownies.

Melted butter and dark chocolate is slowly added to the mixture, followed by a mix of flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and ground almonds.  This is all gently combined and poured into a lined, shallow baking tray.  Then comes the critical element – the caramel.  I found the best result came from using a large bar of Cadbury’s caramel.  The pieces of chocolate caramel in these bars are small and square, which means you get a nice even chunk in each and every square of brownie.

It works best if the chocolate has been in the freezer.  This seems to help stop the caramel completely melting into the mixture.  I broke the frozen chocolate into pieces and then pushed each piece just slightly into the brownie mixture.  This stopped it from sinking all the way to the bottom of the mixture (which again is more likely to make the caramel melt into the brownie as it would be closer to the hot surface of the baking tray).

Here’s what it looks like before it goes into the oven:

It’s also worth noting that a large Cadbury dairy milk contains 28 pieces.  You only need 24 of them for the recipe.  If you’re anything like me, those extra 4 pieces may have mysteriously disappeared by the time the brownies come out of the oven….

The Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies Recipe:

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Chocolate caramel brownies - rich, moist chocolate brownie. Crisp on top with a gooey caramel centre.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 Borwnies

Author: Nicky Corbishley

Ingredients

• 150 g good quality dark chocolate
• 185 g unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 275 g golden caster sugar
• 50 g plain flour
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 60 g ground almonds
• 170 g frozen Cadbury's Caramel from a 200g bar 24 chunks from a 28 chunk bar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180c and line a baking tray that's approx. 20cmx30cm and 3cm deep with baking parchment. Leave a little of the parchment overhanging the tray to make it easier to get the brownie out later.
• Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl isn't touching the water though). Or alternatively melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, giving it a stir each 30 seconds. Then add the butter for the last 30 seconds to melt. Stir and leave to cool slightly.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar on medium until thick and creamy in a large bowl using a mixer or hand whisk. The mixture should leave a trail that sinks after a second or two when you lift the whisk.
• Slowly whisk again, and pour the melted chocolate butter in. Pour it at the side of the bowl in a thin stream, whisking all the time, so that the eggs don't scramble with the warm chocolate.
• When the chocolate is thoroughly mixed in, sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder over the mixture, and then add the ground almonds. Fold into the mix gently, in a figure of eight. This will help to keep the air in.
• Pour the mixture into your baking tray, and use a palette knife to ensure it goes all the way to the edges.
• Take the caramel bar out of the freezer and break into pieces. Distribute the pieces on top of the brownie mix evenly, so there is 1 piece per portion of brownie. Push the caramel into the mixture slightly and place the tray in the oven.
• Cook for 25 minutes.
• Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tray. Lift the brownie out of the tray using the baking parchment and place on a chopping board. Use a sharp knife to slice the brownie into portions. It will crumble slightly when you cut it, but it crumbles less, the longer you leave it to cool.

Recipe Notes

Nutritional Information is per brownie.

Nutritional Information

Nutrition Facts

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Amount Per Serving (45 g)

Calories 202 Calories from Fat 110

% Daily Value*

Fat 12.2g19%

Saturated Fat 6.9g35%

Cholesterol 41mg14%

Sodium 118mg5%

Potassium 106mg3%

Carbohydrates 22.1g7%

Fiber 1.1g4%

Sugar 18.7g21%

Protein 2.9g6%

Vitamin A 250IU5%

Calcium 30mg3%

Iron 0.7mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Nutritional info obtained from caloriecount.about.com per piece (recipe makes 24 pieces)