Brownies are like the ultimate comfort food, and these Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies only elevates that. Rich chocolate flavor with soft gooey caramel melted throughout.
Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies – The Ultimate Comfort Food
When you hear the words ‘comfort food’, I would be willing to bet that a whole gamut of emotions is set loose in your mind. Visions of particular foods, their taste, their texture, all swirling around on your tongue and filling you up until you are so full you could burst. Warming your heart and soul and quenching a craving you probably had going into the meal.
Comfort food is exactly that, comforting. Some people turn to a big gallon of ice cream, and others reach for a potato masher and mash away the sorrows or anger they are feeling.
When I am looking for comfort in my foods, I tend to turn to chocolate. I am not really sure why, I just know it’s sort of always been that way. Baking evokes comfort in my mind. Breads, Cookies, Cakes, Pies…. and… Brownies.
Yes, brownies.
Especially rich, dark chocolatey goodness, oozing with caramel. Yep, that is why I chose Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies for this week’s Comfort Foods with Lee Woodruff. Wait, who’s Lee?
Let me tell you a little about Lee before we move onto the recipe this week. Lee Woodruff has just released a book titled Those We Love Most, which explores the ways in which a close-knit family is broken and made whole again after one pivotal moment results in the ultimate tragedy.
I tend to be drawn to books like this one, and guess what book I’m about 1/2 way through at the moment on my Kindle? Yep, this one. And it’s EXCELLENT. You really should read it.
By the time you read this post I can almost bet you, I will be curled up on my favorite couch, next to my favorite window sill in the house (where I myself write wondrous fictional tales just like Lee’s) reading more on this addicting book.
I’ll be wrapped in a blanket and sipping my morning coffee and getting lost in the pages of a story and tale that is so captivating, it’s difficult to put down. If you’ve not had a chance to check out her new novel, I strongly urge you to.
A beautiful story, well written and wonderfully told. Check out more about Those We Love Most, including catching a sneak peak by watching the trailer. Lee is an amazing author and such a genuine, heart felt person, you can’t help but just love her as you get to know her.
Let’s get back to those brownies now. These are one of my favorite recipes for brownies.
We have gone back and forth between how we do the caramel, it just depends on the situation.
We use ice cream topping caramel in a jar more often than not, simply because it tends to be softer and easier to eat after they have cooled and sat.
However, if you want a real treat, a flavor melt on your tongue kinda thing, you can use the real caramels, but plan to eat the brownies warm, and slice the caramels into smaller pieces.
Otherwise, you have chewy pieces of caramels on the inside of your brownie the next day. Pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds though and you’re back at “fresh from the oven”.
It’s a win-win either way.
This time around we did it with the real caramels. We also did not wait to let the caramels cool before we took the picture which I think is kind of evident by the falling apart brownie pictured.
It may look like a mess but my goodness was it a good mess. And really it was just the one brownie. The rest were all fine. Trust me. I’m not even going to pretend I care about the fact that that one brownie looks like a mass pile of chocolate – it sort of was, but once the moist delicious thing hit my tongue, nothing mattered. I didn’t have a care in the word.
You can clearly see how comforting these Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies actually are to me, right?
They were heavenly. Rich, chocolatey, warm and gooey.
The perfect… NO… the ULTIMATE comfort food!
This Week’s Recipes:
Comfort Food |Soups
- Kalbi Tang or Korean Short Rib Soup by Kimchi MOM
- Thai’d up chicken noodle soup by I Run For Wine
- Spicy Black Bean Soup by Mama’s Blissful Bites
Comfort Food | Main Dish
- Lasagna Roll Ups by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Venison Chili by The Messy Baker Blog
- Quinoa, Spinach, and Kale Lasagna by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Individual Chicken Pot Pies by Noshing With The Nolands
- Mini Mac n Cheese Cups with Pork Shoulder Ragù by Hip Foodie Mom
- Creamy Chicken & Dumplings by La Cocina de Leslie
- Spaghetti Squash Gratins by She likes ruffles, he likes truffles
- Creamy Chicken Enchiladas by Home Cooking Memories
- Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy by Juanita’s Cocina
- Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream by Cravings of a Lunatic
- Sour Cream Pound Cake by Mom’s Test Kitchen
- Chocolate Layer Cake by Magnolia Days
- Sweet Red Bean Pie by What Smells So Good
- Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies by Daily Dish Recipes
Recipe for Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies
Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cups 100% dark cocoa I used Hershey’s Special Dark
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ Tablespoons of vanilla extract
- ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips
- 10 unwrapped caramel candies cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8? x 8? glass pan.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove and add the sugar, stirring to combine it all together. Return the sugar/butter mixture to the heat for about a minute or until it’s hot, but not yet bubbling. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, add the 2 eggs and beat for about a minute. Add the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla and beat into the eggs until smooth.
- Stir the hot sugar/butter into the egg mixture until it is all smooth.
- Add the flour and mix well.
- Add the chocolate chips and the caramel candies, just until combined.
- Pour the batter into your lightly greased 8? x 8? pan and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with no loose batter. Allow to cool slightly before cutting or they will fall apart easily. Slice and serve.
- (If needed, warm up slightly on plate in microwave for about 10 seconds).
The fact that these brownies should be eaten warm says it all! The look ridiculously moist and chocolate together with caramel is just plain amazing. Happy Sunday Nicole!
They are delicious! And yes, warm is the key. 🙂 Happy Sunday right back to you!
Oh, and I love this page header!
Aw, thank you! xoxo
Warm brownies out of the oven – there’s nothing that describes that feeling. these look sinfully delicious, nicole! what a great recipe to share.
Thanks! They were amazing warm and gooey and perfect!
Chocolate is my ultimate go-to for comfort. Gooey caramel in a brownie is fabulous. I can see these heated up for a few seconds in the microwave for a hot out of the oven like experience. Adding this to my recipe list for brownies.
So glad I’m not alone with the chocolate. They really are amazing and wonderfully moist and perfect warm. Yes, must be warm! Thanks Renee!
Girl, you is good. You is REAL good.
Linda just begged me to make these today. I feel obligated to oblige. 😀
I personally love my brownies so moist that they’re falling apart…the sign of a good, fudgy brownie to me!
OMG these look amazing. I was just talking to my husband last night about making some brownies. And now I know the perfect recipe to make. Thanks so much for posting this. They are the PERFECT comfort food!!!
These look amazing. I want some right now!
I love brownies and I love dark chocolate. I’ll bet these are heavenly.
Oh man, last week I made chocolate chip cookies with caramel in them but I have yet to make brownies with caramel…these look awesome!
whoa, and i mean WHOA! ooey gooey comforting with a bit of decadence! i’m a big fan of dark chocolate and have a square or 2 almost every night. 🙂
btw….love the new header. very nice!
Oh yes. These brownies are heavenly!
This is one of those times I wish I had dark cocoa powder in my pantry because I want this NOW. YUM! Thank you for sharing, I am bookmarking and picking up some powder at the store tomorrow!
Why are you doing this to me? That is soooo gooood!
Oh my, these are some amazing brownies! I was just looking through the questions for the chat, and decided that brownies might be my ultimate comfort food!
Chocolate and caramel? I’m in. These brownies look so fudgy and moist. Yum! Pinned.
Chocolate and caramel are a match made in heaven, don’t you think? These brownies sound like such a tasty treat!
You can never go wrong with that combination. So very yummy!!
Oh yes. These brownies are heavenly!
This dessert sounds so great! And the way you describe what comfort food is is spot-on! 🙂
Seriously these are amazing. I love brownies far too much. I could definitely cozy up to a big pan of these.
Caramel and chocolate together is a winning combination. These look, and sound divine!
YUmmmmmmm. . brownies! Love it! Brownies and chocolate cake ARE the ultimate confort desserts! Love it!
Oh your brownie recipe looks perfect. I made brownies the other day that turned out way too dry. I need to surprise hubby with these to make up for my failed attempt last week. 🙂
Moist caramel brownies are the best, great recipe!
yummy!!!! those looks so good 🙂 two of my favorites combinations!
You can’t go wrong with caramel in brownies. YUM!!!
Chocolate Caramel…….. my two favorite words! 🙂 These looks wonderfuL!
Nicole, who cares what these look like (in my opinion, they look like big ooey gooey caramel-y piles of deliciousness!) when they pack such a fantastic flavour combo. I always turn to food in my times of stress and especially to my best foodie friend, Chocolate. Yes, Chocolate is so important to me, it deserves a capital C. We get together several times a day, I’m not ashamed to admit. Great recipe!
You’re brave! I tried that once and the caramel stuck to the pan ;-D
I am so in love with the idea of a warm caramel brownie. I’ve been craving a brownie for a few days now. I should go make this.
I’m suddenly in the mood for chocolate. And caramel. Yummy!
Great recipe – saving for the next time I have guests.
These looks super moist and yummy! You always make these dreamy-delicious looking recipes!
Oh yes. These brownies are heavenly!