Salted Caramel Brownies

 

This past summer I baked Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies for our church's softball team and everyone loved them!  You really can't go wrong when you have a brownie recipe full of rich chocolate, coffee, and a touch of flour.  This is another take on those same brownies. 

 

These are so good guys!  You can really use whatever you have in your kitchen.  I ended up swapping the semisweet chocolate for bittersweet since that's what I had in our pantry and used kosher salt to finish the top (instead of sea salt).

 

As a side note, if coffee isn't your thing you should still add the instant coffee granules to this recipe. Everyone who tried a brownie couldn't tell there was coffee in the recipe and it definitely deepens the flavor of the chocolate.

 

 

Salted Caramel Brownies

Makes 12 brownies

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

8 ounces semisweet chocolate

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup flour, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

5 to 6 ounces of good caramel sauce

2 to 3 teaspoons flaked sea salt (I substituted with kosher and it still tasted great)

 

Directions

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9 x 12 x 1 1/2 inch baking pan.

 

Melt the butter, 8 ounces of the semisweet chocolate, and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee, vanilla, and sugar.  Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the chocolate mixture.  Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

 

Bake for 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Don't over bake!!

 

As soon as the brownies are out of the oven, place the jar of caramel sauce without the lid in a microwave and heat just until it's pourable.  Stir until smooth.  Drizzle the caramel evenly over the hot brownies and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Cool completely and cut into 12 bars.

 

Source: slightly adapted from Foolproof by Ina Garten