Caramel Brownies

Active time: 20 minutes | Bake time: 25 minutes

Oftentimes, my inspiration to bake something is spawned by the fact that I have something I need to use up or get rid of. In this case, it was some extra homemade caramel which I had used for my Little Brownie Baker Cookies. I hate to waste food, especially something homemade that I spent time and effort on, so I got to thinking about a good way to use a fairly small batch of caramel. Brownies were a perfect answer, of course because you can just drizzle caramel on top of the batter, pop them in the oven, and you’ve instantly got a super fancy batch of deliciousness.

Ingredients:

• 110g (⅔ cup) dark chocolate chips or baking chocolate chopped finely

• 65g (4 tbsp) butter

• 15g (3 tbsp) dutch cocoa powder (can be substituted with regular cocoa powder)

• 2 large eggs

• 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 54g (¼ cup) coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled

• 80g (¾ cup) all purpose flour

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• ¼ - ½ cup homemade or store-bought caramel sauce, per preference

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9 or 7x11 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Place butter and chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments until they are melted.

3. Once butter and chocolate are melted, whisk in cocoa powder. Let sit for 10 minutes to cool.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, and coconut oil.

5. Pour chocolate mixture into the large bowl with the egg and sugar mixture and whisk until well combined.

6. Fold in flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined.

7. Pour brownie batter into your lined 9x9 or 7x11 pan.

8. Spoon your caramel sauce over the top of the brownie batter, then swirl through the brownie and caramel with a butter knife to distribute the caramel.

9. Bake for 24-29 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs or clean, if the toothpick has liquid batter on it, continue to bake for 1-2 more minutes and check again.

10. Cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then use opposite corners of parchment paper to carefully transfer the brownie to a cooling rack.