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The holidays just got a little bit sweeter with these Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate Brownies. Homemade caramels stuffed into a milk chocolate and hazelnut brownie batter. Then baked and finished with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Every last bite of these indulgent brownies is melt in your mouth delicious. Package them up for gifting, or serve as your Christmas dessert. They’re simple to make and guaranteed to be hit!
As the days until Christmas dwindle down, I am slowly slipping into holiday mode. Well, kind of…in my head I’m slowly slipping into holiday mode. But in reality I’m still working to cross off all the last-minute items on my to-do list. So crazy to think the end of the year is almost here. I’m very much looking forward to 2019 (and very excited for “healthy January 2019”). But I’m even more excited for Christmas, and all the indulgences that come with it, like these salted caramel brownies.
And of course family, friends, more good food, plenty of snow, chill time, and hopefully so much more! But right now it’s all about these brownies. If there was ever any food close to being perfect, it’s these brownies.
Every square inch of them is delicious. The edges are crisp, the center is ooey gooey, they’re perfectly sweet. They have the best chocolate flavor, with hints of coffee and hazelnut, and no one can pass them up!
I’m calling them the Christmas Brownie.
All month long I’ve really want to make a delicious caramel dessert, but I just never came up with a solid idea. I thought about pies and contemplated cookies. But sometime before heading to New York last week, I made a caramel brownie for my cookie box and fell in the love with the end result.
They where everything you could want out of a brownie. The perfect crispy edges, a soft gooey caramel and milk chocolate filled center, and a light touch of salty flavor. I mean, so perfect, right?
Here are the details.
To start, make the caramel. Now I know a lot of people are scared of homemade caramel, but honestly it’s not that tricky. And this particular caramel doesn’t need any special equipment. It’s truly pretty easy to make. You just need four simple ingredients, sugar, butter, heavy cream, and vanilla. Melt the sugar, add the butter and cream, bring the sauce to a boil, then remove from the heat, add the vanilla and done. Nothing too hard, right?
I like to pop the caramel into the freezer to quickly firm it up and then cut into squares. This just makes arranging the caramel into the brownie batter a much easier and cleaner process.
While the caramels firm up in the freezer, make the brownies.
I used my favorite base brownie batter, but added milk chocolate and a touch of hazelnut liquor. Yes, these brownies are extra decadent. But it’s December, and everything this month should be over the top…healthy food to follow in January! The hazelnut liquor, while totally optional, really adds that extra special touch that every holiday dessert should have. And I love the flavor paired with the sweet caramel.
Once the brownies are baked and out of the oven, it’s important to let them cool a bit so they can stiffen up. These are very gooey brownies, but especially when warm, thanks to the runny (delicious) caramel.
Once cool, you can cut and serve them or wrap them up much easier. That said, these brownies are DELICIOUS warm out of the oven. I would even go out there and say that these would be awesome with just a spoon. Ooh, or maybe in a bowl with a scoop of ice cream? Wow, oh wow, yes, that would be good.
Either way you serve these up they’re going to be great.
A little tip? If you need to impress anyone over the next couple weeks (like say your boyfriend’s family), make them these brownies. They will be hooked, on both you and these delicious treats!
This could be both a good thing or bad thing, depending on how often you like to make brownies. Either way, be sure to make these brownies for all to enjoy this season.
If you make these brownies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate Brownies
Servings: 18 brownies
Calories Per Serving: 2048 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Brownies
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut liquor (optional)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- flaky salt
Instructions
- 1. To make the caramel. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. 2. In a large pot, cook the sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heat proof rubber spatula until the sugar has melted and turns a golden caramel, about 8 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add the chunks of butter, whisking until combined. The caramel will bubble and begin to hard, just keep stirring and slowly add the cream and then whisk until combined.
3. Return the pot to medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring until the caramel has thickened, about 5 minutes, Remove from the heat and stir in a pinch of salt and the vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan. Transfer to the freezer and freeze for 20-30 minutes to harden. Cut the caramel into 1/2 inch squares. 4. Meanwhile, make the brownies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.5. Add the butter and chocolate to a medium microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. To the melted chocolate whisk in the sugar, instant coffee, vanilla, hazelnut liquor (if using), and eggs until smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder, flour, and salt until just combined. Try not to over mix the batter, it will be thick. 6. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer. Arrange half of the caramel squares over the brownie batter (you will have leftover caramel, save for another use). Spread the remaining brownie batter over the caramels. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the brownies are set on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting, at least 30 minutes. The brownies will be very gooey. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.
This recipe looks great! Could I use store-bought caramel or caramel sauce instead?
HI! Yes, I would recommend using soft store bought caramels. That will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Could I add walnuts for a friend who loves Brownies with nuts?
Hi Alissa! I am sure walnuts will be a great addition! I would add 1/2 cup to the brownie batter. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
The BEST brownies I’ve ever had!! The caramel is a little challenging to make, but if you follow the directions exactly, it should work for you!
Love to hear that! Thank you so much Sydney! xTieghan
Wow, I just made these and they are perfection! As much as I cook from scratch, I have to admit it’s tough to beat boxed brownie mix, but these have succeeded in that. I did not add the hazelnut liquor and had leftover caramel from a previous recipe, but otherwise made no other adjustments.
So glad you loved this Angela! Thank you so much! xTieghan
These were a huge hit at the dinner party last night – it took me three attempts to make the caramel though, it is WAY easier to do it on a gas range rather than an electric stove as I found out. I was a bit worried that pre-baking them and then reheating would dry them out but I just put it in a warming drawer for 20 minutes and it worked like a charm.
Thank you so much Alison! I am so glad you loved these!
I made these last weekend for company. The caramel was no problem to make except I did get a few tiny pieces of hard sugar somehow. It was easy to cut around them though. Also, I didn’t have baking chocolate so I used chocolate chips. It didn’t get smooth in the micro with the butter, but I hoped for the best and it was fine. Also I used Kahlua because I didn’t have hazelnut liquor. The verdict? Wow wow wow. these were insanely ooey gooey delicious. Loved that these get made in a 9×13 because it made SO MANY and mostly everyone had seconds. Huge hit. Thank you!!!
I am so glad you loved these Kristen! Thank you so much for trying them!
Can I use store bought caramels in this recipe?
Sure! Store bought caramels will work great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan
So this recipe didn’t really work out for me as anticipated. The caramel almost entirely absorbed into the brownies except for a bit that oozed up to the top. The parts with the caramel on top were delicious but the rest of the brownie (while still yummy!) was missing that caramel note all together. If I made these again I’d probably try using larger chunks of caramel and freezing the caramel overnight…or maybe pushing in chunks of caramel like half way through the bake?
I read through some comments about the caramel being tricky…I’ve had no problem with it. I used a silicone spatula as suggested and I think that’s important – I’ve read that using a metal spoon could cause the caramel to crystallize. I also think its important that the butter as well as the heavy cream is a room temp so the caramel doesn’t clump up too quickly. I’ve made the mistake of using heavy cream straight out of the fridge before and the caramel goops up – not a big issue just have to put it back over light heat and stir stir stir. BTW the caramel is so delicious – I pretty much just ate the 2nd half of it myself instead of saving it for another thing. But yeah bit of a bummer it didn’t shine through in the brownies for me.
Hi Beata! I am so glad these were still yummy for you, but I hope the caramel turns out a bit better next time! Please let me know if you have any questions!
I did not read the recipe properly, made the caramels all wrong, put them in the brownie batter anyway, and they were the most delicious brownies I’ve ever had. If a mediocre baker like me can make this wrong and still be a success, then you know it’s a winning recipe.
Thank you so much! I am so glad you loved this!
I made these for Christmas Eve but sampled them early. They are absolutely the chocolate caramel brownie of your dreams. Great creation! Thank you.
Thank you so much Catherine! I am so glad you enjoyed these brownies!
I also had a horrible time with the caramel 🙁 I have an electric stove so I guess it took a longer time to cook. I stirred for about 25 mins in total and at the end there was a thick ring of hard sugar all around the pan above the carmel. And also on my wooden spoon as hard as a rock. I didn’t use a rubber spatula like you said because I don’t have one. So since so much sugar got stuck to the pan and spoon when I added the butter it was way too much and didn’t blend in and then when I added the cream it was so soupy. I poured what I had into the freezer though and it looks like it’ll still be ok to add to the brownies.
Hey Kayleen, so sorry you had trouble. Did the caramel end up turning out ok?
These are redonkulous! I made them tonight just as the recipe indicated. My caramel worked out perfect and I have the other half in the freezer so I can make another batch. I think I slightly overcooked the brownies but my bf disagrees as they were still very moist and gooey. Mine were not as runny as your pics so next time I will cook for 25 mins only. But these are seriously good and pretty easy to make. I love all things caramel!!. I’m gonna try one of your cakes next, either the North Pole cake or the apple snickerdoodle one. Both are very eye catching and I want to copy your pic so I can impress my bf’s daughters 😀
I am so glad you loved this Anna! Thank you so much!
Hi!! I was wondering if I can just grease the pan or if there is a benefit to using wax/parchment paper? Thank you!
Hi! I was just wondering if you can grease the pan instead of using parchment or wax paper? Is there a benefit to using the paper underneath?
The parchment makes then easier to remove from the pan, but yet you can just grease the pan. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?
these look incredible! I’m really tempted to try them but I live in Italy and we don’t have heavy cream (and we don’t have caramel in our stores, just caramel syrups(?), at least anywhere near where I live), Do you have any advice on some substitutes for heavy cream for the caramel?
HI! Do you have whole milk or heavy whipping cream? Anything with a high fat content should work well. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much and happy Holidays!! xTieghan ?