Q: How do you make brownies even better? A: Stuff ’em with salted caramel. Guilty pleasure? Yep. Caramel Brownies are not for people with a conscience!
Caramel Brownies
Caramel + brownies in itself isn’t an original idea and if you do a Google search, you’ll find plenty of examples. And I would have used an existing recipe if I found what I was after, but every recipe I came across:
1. Used store-bought caramel;
2. The caramel was runny, more like a caramel sauce, usually drizzled on top of the brownie; or
3. Required a candy thermometer to get the caramel to the exact temperature so it would soft set, rather than ending up runny OR cooking it too far so it ends up like hard toffee.
All I wanted was a creamy layer of caramel inside, and no thanks to the candy thermometer.
Solution? Combine my favourite everyday brownie with the easy creamy caramel from our favourite Caramel Slice, and voila: Caramel Brownies!
What goes in Caramel Brownies
Here’s what you need for the brownie part – nothing ground-breaking here:
And here’s what you need for the creamy caramel. The key ingredient here is sweetened condensed milk, which is cooked on a low stove until it changes from white to pale golden ➔ ie. caramel!
Golden syrup is a little cheat ingredient to give the caramel a little boost of extra caramel flavour without the caramel cooking for so long it becomes super-thick, like a peanut butter consistency. We need the caramel to be a pourable consistency so we can pour it over the brownie batter.
Golden syrup is a gold-coloured syrup that’s common in Australian and British baking. If you don’t have it, no need to fret, hunt it down or even bother making it – just use maple syrup instead, which works a treat.
How to make Caramel Brownies
Firstly, make the caramel part because this takes 7 minutes on the stove whereas the batter takes mere minutes:
Melt butter in a saucepan with golden syrup or maple syrup and salt;
Add sweetened condensed milk and mix until well-combined;
Then cook, stirring very frequently, over low heat until it changes from white to a caramel colour. You can get away with only stirring occasionally for the first few minutes, but as you start to see steam, be sure to stir constantly – albeit leisurely – to ensure it doesn’t catch on the base.
If the caramel happens to catch on the base, you will end up with tiny little brown bits in the caramel. It might look like a big deal when it’s in the saucepan but don’t worry – once it’s baked up inside the brownie and you bite into it, you won’t even notice;
Take it off the stove, then keep stirring for another 30 seconds just to cool it down a touch otherwise the residual heat in the saucepan might still make the caramel catch on the base.
Cover, then keep warm while you make the batter. It needs to be pourable when you use it.
And here’s how the Caramel Brownie is assembled:
Firstly, make the Brownie batter. It’s very easy and all happens in one bowl. If you want visuals of the steps, pop over to my brownie recipe;
Set aside a heaped ½-cup of the batter for the topping. Then pour the remainder into a 20cm/8″ square pan. A lamington pan will also work well, the slice is just a bit thinner than pictured;
Pour the caramel over as evenly as you can. Note: If your caramel has cooled down to the point that it’s not pourable, just reheat it on a medium stove until it’s pourable again (this literally takes 1 minute). You can’t really spread the caramel because it sinks into the batter once poured. So where you pour is what you get!
Dollop the reserved ½-cup of brownie batter across the top;
Then swirl a butter knife across the surface a few times in large sweeping motions. This is not so much about creating swirl effects on the surface because they don’t really stay once baked, as you can see in Step 6. It’s more about sort-of spreading the brownie batter across the caramel; and
Bake – 30 minutes for very-messy-hands-gooey, as pictured, or 35 minutes for sensible gooey.
And this is what comes out of the oven:
Well, actually, this:
It’s sweet. It’s rich. It’s indulgent. This one is not for the faint-hearted or “I’m-not-really-a-sweets-person” types! It is for die-hard chocolate and caramel lovers – and everyone out there who just feels they deserve a treat.
Wait – that includes you, my friend. Do it! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Salted Caramel-Stuffed Brownies
Ingredients
Brownie
- 200g / 7oz unsalted butter
- 200g / 7oz dark chocolate / semi sweet chocolate chips (Note 1)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs , lightly whisked
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1/2 cup flour , plain/all purpose
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Salted Caramel
- 395g / 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tbsp golden syrup or maple syrup (Note 2)
- 60g / 2 oz unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (all oven types).
- Butter and line a 20cm / 8" square tin with parchment / baking paper.
Salted Caramel
- Place the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally for the first 1 minute. When it is heated (ie. when you see wisps of steam), whisk constantly (leisurely, not vigorously!) for 7 minutes, ensuring the base doesn't catch (Note 3). It should be a pale golden colour.
- Remove from stove and whisk for 30 seconds. Place lid on, set aside and keep warm.
Brownies:
- Melt chocolate & butter: Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Microwave in three 30 second bursts on high, stirring in between bursts, until melted and smooth.
- Add sugar, eggs, vanilla: Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture and mix well to combine.
- Add dry ingredients: Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Mix until smooth and combined.
- Reserve some batter: Measure out 1/2 cup of brownie batter and set aside. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared tin.
- Pour over caramel: Pour the Salted Caramel over the brownie batter, getting as much coverage as you can (as you can't easily spread the caramel once poured). If caramel has cooled and is no longer pourable, reheat it on stove for 1 minute until runny again.
- Cover with reserved brownie batter: Dollop the reserved 1/2 cup of brownie batter randomly over the Salted Caramel. Use a knife or skewer to make “swirls” – they won't be so visible once baked, it's more about spreading brownie batter over the caramel.
- Bake: Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes (for very gooey brownie, as pictured) to 35 minutes (for very moist but not super-gooey).
- Cool: Leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Use surplus paper overhang to lift out onto a cooling rack. Cool for a further 20 minutes before slicing. Note: Caramel is a bit gooey when still warm but sets firmer once fully cooled, ie. it will cut through neatly.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2015. Updated with brand new photos and video in January 2021 – about time!!
For Caramel Monsters
More slices and bars
Life of Dozer
As always, pushing the boundaries….
Instead of cake l had these type of brownies. Back in the 50s. I’m so glad they still are in this world. God bless you!
Just made this caramel to use with my family brownie recipe because my usual caramel went all weird and completely dissolved inside my first batch of brownies. Oops. This caramel became a semi-solid mass of goop in the pan by the time it reached the correct color, very likely caused by me messing something up due to multitasking (making caramel and drinking wine). Great news, though! In a moment of desperation and insanity, I dumped some heavy cream in the pot and whisked that caramel clump around until it was a semi-pourable consistency. It somehow turned out perfectly? I really have no clue what happened there. I assume I could have ended up with the same great result had I paid better attention initially, but hey- I found a way to save the caramel, in case there’s anyone else out there who thinks attempting something like this while several glasses into a bottle of wine is a good idea. Yay?
These were amazing, everybody loved them!
A family favourite!
My son is a seasoned chocoholic. He rated these brownies as the best chocolate dessert ever! High, and well deserved praise indeed!
I so appreciate you tested caramel that didn’t run. The other recipes that I looked at had you unwrap 50 storebought caramels, which in itself was enough to drive me insane. Those things are so hard to unwrap! I’m so grateful for your thorough testing and explanation of a rationale for the steps.
heya can this caramel be stored? if so, how?
You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container then heat it on the stove until pourable when you’re ready to use it. N x
hi Nagi, thanks for your reply! Do they remain liquid-ish or will they harden? Would any air-tight container work?
Hi Nagi, you have a wonderful food site I peek into from time to time. A die-hard choc and caramel fan as I am, I feel very tempted to try out these brownies (I bake classic ones fairly regularly). For the filling, what do you say I just use a can of dulce de leche, which I make by dumping a can of sweetened condensed milk into a pot of water and boiling it for 3 hrs. It is pretty thick and caramelley, would work, do you think? I don’t want to hunt for syrups, they’re practically inexistent here in Italy. Thank you!
Hi Ode – as per the notes under the recipe, you can just leave the syrup out as its mainly for colour. I am not sure that an already caramelised can of dulce de leche will spread evenly without dragging through the batter and it won’t have the same salted and buttery flavour and texture. N x
Ok, duly noted. I will try though, but with a warm dulce de leche which is spreadable and pliable. As for salt, I can always sprinkle some on. Thank you!
Let me know how it turns out!! N x
Hi Nagi, I recently made your nutellea stuffed brownies – an absolute HIT, but I was just wondering if I could duplicate the nutella process with the Caramel and freeze the caramel into an even layer, then lay it in between the brownie mix? Thanks! Love all your recipes x
No need to freeze the caramel layer Ellie – it is easily poured over the brownies unlike the nutella which is much harder to spread. N x
These are amazing and I love them. I tried them with maple syrup the first time but it didn’t quite give me the color I wanted, so since I can’t find golden syrup here, I used a tiny bit of molasses, which worked out pretty well.
I found that they almost turn into fudge in the fridge/freezer.
Thanks for the recipe!
This is cooling as I type – looking forward to sharing with my friends tonight. One thing – I don’t know if you’ve spotted, Nagi, but the directions for cooking the caramel change from the ‘picture’ section to the recipe box. In the picture section, it says that you melt the butter, syrup and salt first, then add the condensed milk and turn the heat to low; in the recipe section it says you start off with all the ingredients in the pan and have the heat at medium high – no mention of changing the heat. Once I’ve saved a recipe, I tend to jump to the recipe box rather than re-reading the pictures section, and I think that having all the ingredients in the pan from the start, and not realising I needed to turn down the heat until about half way through cooking (when I went back up to check what the colour should look like) probably contributed to the bottom catching slightly right at the start (i.e. even before the first minute was up – I was stirring from the beginning and was immediately bringing up slightly browned pieces).
Fortunately, I don’t think it is going to make a difference to the end result!
This happened to me too – As it was bubbling away it didn’t seem right so scrolled up where the instructions were different. In the oven now and hoping it turns out okay
Just adding – these were a huge hit with my friends last night (and even better this morning!). The only challenge was that all of the caramel sank to the bottom of the batter, and had therefore slightly caught on the base (slight ‘burnt sugar’ flavour). Is there anything I can do to increase the density of the batter slightly (potential increase in the amount of flour/cocoa powder?) that will help get the caramel to sit in the middle?
Love love your recipes!Can this brownie be frozen?
I wouldn’t recommend that with the caramel. My normal brownies freeze well though! N x
Absolutely delicious, your recipes never fail me Nagi. I cooked for 35 minutes and it was perfect, served with thickened cream
Hi there, thank you so much for the recipe. Just my one the caramel did not ended up creamy like yours 🙁 do you think I left in for too long?
Hi Rudson, sorry you had issues here, what exactly happened to is, what was the texture like? N x
I’ve made this 3-4 times now and each time it’s turned out brilliantly. I recently tried it with gluten-free flour and it was exactly the same in terms of taste and texture. The only very minor difference was that the caramel layer seemed to sink toward the bottom!
Have made this before and it’s wonderful.. just wondering if anyone has doubled recipe for a larger crowd?
This recipe was amazing… best brownies I have ever tasted. However I was wondering if it is possible to sub out the cocoa powder for cacao? I have too much of that in my cupboard and looking for a way to get rid of it! Any advice is appreciated 🙂
Hi Emily, cacao is not roasted whereas cocoa has been – you could sub cacao, the flavour may be slightly different but still delicious! N x
Soo good and fudgey
The caramel with rich and smooth. But the caramel sunk it the bottom a bit. Over all 8/10
Made this for easter dinner turned out good!
Such a delicious recipe!! Ive made it a couple of times now, and both times it’s turned out amazing, but has taken a bit longer than the recipe says. I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong?
So… this is heartbreaking but I somehow didn’t have enough batter reserved to cover the caramel… I think the tin I used was the wrong size.,. I’ve popped it in the oven anyway and I’m gonna see if I can somehow rescue it with some strategically placed walnuts or similar 😅