Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Cocoa Brownies with Caramel Sauce



My husband loves brownies, probably more than anyone I know. Whenever we go over to his sister's house, he begs one of his nephews to make Ghirardelli brownies, you know the ones in the box? To be frank, I'm not a big fan. The texture is too heavy for me. But I guess the gooeyness is what brownies are all about. My husband loves it! He would always ask me if we could buy those boxes at Costco but I am always shaking my head no. My poor husband... Well, that is why you don't see a lot of brownie recipes on my blog. But I have recently discovered that homemade brownies are way better than the ones from the boxes! I tried this recipe one night and just fell in love with it. It's so simple to make. Also, very simple ingredients. You don't have to mess with melting baking chocolate, etc. It's pretty much like following a brownie box instruction. I really liked the flavor of cocoa in this brownie and the texture was just perfect for me. I've made this a couple times already. I try to make different sauces for topping each time and today, I will share my favorite caramel recipe with you, too. The caramel sauce definitely made these brownies divine. You can make lots of different things using this caramel sauce, too. The pictures didn't turn out too fantastic but for the first time, I will beg you not to judge a book by its cover. :)



Cocoa Brownies with Caramel Sauce


Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Caramel Sauce, recipe follows

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches.

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs with a electrical mixer on medium speed. Stir in remaining ingredients except for walnuts. Stir in walnuts.

Spread the batter evenly in the greased pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the middle of the brownies. Cool completely. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.

Pour caramel sauce on top of the brownies. (I poured the caramel sauce before I cut the brownies and that is why the brownies in the pictures look so messy. I tried it again the other day and I poured the sauce after I cut the brownies and it looked neat and nice.)



Caramel Syrup:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 tbsps stick margarine or butter
1/3 cup whipping (heavy) cream or 1/3 cup whole milk (if you're using milk, use 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 cup water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat brown sugar, corn syrup and butter to boiling in 1 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened; remove from heat. Cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Stir in whipping cream (or whole milk and cornstarch mixture) and vanilla extract.


Sook the Cook                                                                            

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing - especially the caramel recipe. I love it on apple pie. Can't wait to try this recipe though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love not having to worry about melting chocolate chips.... I think i may try this recipe... but as a brownie pie? ( i dont have a square baking pan.. or a rectangular one for that matter lol)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Glenda, I am sure this caramel sauce will be great on an apple pie. Let me know how it is. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marina-
    I'm sure you can use a round pan to bake this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love how wonderfully goeey this recipe is!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds delicious! I love caramel sauce and butterscotch as well. Such a wonderful idea! Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh Sook!!!

    I am the world's biggest choco-holic - it's true, I admit it.

    Chocolate and milk just go together, and if there's one thing that goes with chocolate more than milk does, it's caramel. (That's why "Milky Way" is the best candybar ever!)

    Gotta try this, but will have to make a trip to the grocery store first...

    No corn syrup. *sad face*

    Thank you for this yummmmmy recipe, maybe I'll make it without the caramel sauce (if I don't get your page off here soon, I will have to do that!)

    Happy December~

    ReplyDelete
  8. Karilyn-
    The original recipe didn't call for caramel sauce so yes, you should try it without the caramel. It's fine. :) Thanks for your lovely comment.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Brownie and caramel is a perfect combo of flavors and textures.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for visiting my blog, you should try that sometime, pancakes tasted really good with the pomegranate syrup. Now your cocoa brownies is driving me crazy, looks delishh, this must be perfect for Christmas. Have fun cooking and baking!

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow, great recipe. Hmmmmmmmmmm caramel, just perfect

    ReplyDelete
  12. Choc cakes and brownies are always top of my list of cakes. I can have it at anytime....with lots of ice cream...mmmm. Found a new way here....with caramel sauce...have to be delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mary-
    My husband is crazy about caramel so he suggested that I pour some homemade caramel all over the brownies and it turned out so great! We still talk about it every now and then how delicious it was. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Every once in awhile I will get in a "brownie mood" where I will crave the gooey chocolate taste. However, I like making them using the No Pudge Fudge brownie mix (on the blog) and that is a lighter consistency with a good brownie taste still. But, I think you have convinced me to make some from scratch, and that caramel sauce looks like a really great addition!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am going to miss Monk! Love these cookies and brownies.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Janice-
    Isn't Monk so good? I love it! :)

    ReplyDelete