Take A Bite Of: JennyMac's Sea Salt Caramel Brownies

Oh, I am in Sea Salt Caramel Brownie LOVE! I found a great recipe a month ago but the brownies were too dense with a flour aftertaste. We like our brownies moist, gooey, and fudgy. Can there be a problem? Yes, moist and gooey lack the density needed to hold the caramel in the middle. Even if you parbake (partially bake half of the batter.) SO: I perfected the absolutely best fudgy brownie recipe exactly how I wanted them. AND, after trying dozens of caramel recipes (who knew there are more caramel recipes than children in the world) I opted to layer the caramel on top of the brownie and cover with a super thick genache.

I have spent a month perfecting this recipe. You know who loved my commitment to the kitchen like a mad scientist? Every single one of my taste-testers. (With 8 various recipes, there are a lot of volunteer taste-testers.) You know who hated it? My ass. But, I was required to taste as I go was I not? And eating homemade sea salt caramel by the spoonful sometimes? Mmm hmmmm, gimme.

The lengths I would go to for you, my chocolate connoisseurs. I blame my obsession on perfecting this recipe upon all of you. But, every minute was SO worth it.

Don't believe me? This picture might be worth more than a thousand words.

Here we go: A recipe of love. From my kitchen to yours, enjoy every bite.

JennyMac's Sea Salt Caramel Brownies

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x9 pan. I recommend lining with parchment paper and spraying again.

Brownie Ingredients and Directions:

Mix: 2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

2 t. vanilla

1 c sugar

In separate bowl mix: 1/3 c. cocoa powder

3/4 cup flour

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking powder

Blend dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until the sides begin to pull away from the pan.  Let them cool completely. (That means all the way, don't stick your fork in there. They taste much better cooled than hot enough to burn your mouth off.)

NOW: If you want to quit there, GO AHEAD. This brownie recipe is incredibly easy and is SO MUCH BETTER than a box. Why? Because most brownie recipes use butter. Oil is the key to a rich moist brownie (to me.)

BUT: If you have never made caramel let me tell you one word: SIMPLE. 

Sea Salt Caramel Ingredients and Directions:

1/2 cup sugar

3 T. butter

1/4 c cream

1/4 t to 1/2 t of sea salt ( I used Pink Himalayan and sea salt of all kind is not to difficult to find.)

(Have ALL of your ingredients out. Caramel is simple but you need to stay by its side. Do not abandon it to fetch things from the fridge.)

Pour 1/2 c. sugar in a small pan on stove. Cook over medium heat until sugar begins to melt. As it begins melting and turning brown in color begin to whisk and whisk continuously until ALL sugar is melted. You can easily swirl the sugar in the pan as well to keep it moving and melting.

Once it is completely melted, add butter and whisk until butter is completely melted. Take off the heat and after about 20 seconds, slowly add the cream. The mixture will bubble and erupt. Keep whisking until the mixture is completely smooth.  If it begins seizing up, put it back on the hot burner to let the caramel melt a bit and keep whisking. Once it is smooth, pull it off the stove and let it cool. Start with 1/4 t. of sea salt and add more to your own taste.

It will smell delicious and look so warm and yum that you will be tempted to stick your finger in there to sample. DO NOT DO THIS. Hot caramel is similar to lava. Your mouth wants to be treated better than that. Just be patient.

Once the caramel is cooled, spread it over your brownie mixture. I spread it almost to the edges.

FINALLY:

Chocolate Genache Ingredients and Directions:

Chocolate genache can be prepared in several ways. The trick is, the thicker you want it, use more chocolate than cream. For this, I used about 1/4 cup cream to 6 oz of finely chopped chocolate. You can certainly modify amounts. The standard ratio is 1 c cream to 12 ounces of chocolate. Experiment. You can ALWAYS add more chocolate.

Place the cream in a small pan and heat to almost the boil. Pour over your chopped chocolate and stir stir stir stir it smooth.  I also add a teaspoon of vanilla at this point.

Spread over caramel layer and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes to set. You can easily cut and serve after they are set. Take a bite. You can send me a love note via email.