Stirring Up Happiness

Salted Caramel Filled Fudge Brownies

Rich and fudgey chocolate brownies layered with a salted caramel filling in the middle. Finish with flakey sea salt and enjoy the best sweet and salty combination! Ready in less than one hour, these brownies easily top the standard box mix brownies and are just as simple to make!

Ingredients

• Brownies
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Caramel Filling
  • 20 unwrapped square caramels (155 grams or approximately 3/4 cup)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, begin to melt the unwrapped caramel candies. Heat for approximately 2 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan as needed. The candies will likely clump together.
2. After 2 minutes, pour the heavy cream into your saucepan. Continue stirring until the caramels melt completely and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add in a large pinch of salt and set aside. You should have approximately 1 cup of caramel filling.
3. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an 8 x 8 square baking pan with parchment paper.
4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
5. In a small sauce pan, melt your butter and chocolate chips over medium heat. Once melted, immediately remove from heat and pour in your granulated sugar. Stir to combine.
6. Transfer your mixture to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in the eggs one at a time, stirring to combine after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract and stir.
7. Add your dry ingredient mixture to your batter. Stir to combine.
8. To your lined baking pan, pour in half of your brownie batter. Make sure the batter spreads out across the entire pan, reaching into the corners as well. On top of the brownie batter, pour a layer of the caramel filling. Spread it out to the corners of the pan, being careful to avoid mixing the caramel into the brownie layer. Add the remaining half of your brownie batter on top of the caramel filling. Spread to the corners of the pan so that no caramel is showing.
9. Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.