Salted Caramel Brownies

It is insanely cold in Duluth right now. As I write this, it’s -20°F outside (yep, you read that right, 20 degrees BELOW zero). And that’s the actual air temperature, not including wind chill. It’s the kind of cold where you get an instant ice cream headache just from walking outside. It is awfully pretty though.

There’s something in me that loves this kind of cold. Partly because of how beautiful it is, partly because just going to the grocery store feels like an adventure, and partly because it’s a great excuse to stay home and enjoy some of my favorite indoor activities. It’s supposed to stay this cold for at least a week, possibly longer, so I plan to spend the next week drinking giant cups of hot tea, cuddling under piles of blankets, reading books, doing puzzles, and binge-watching Parks and Recreation for the 40th time. And baking, of course.

Brownies seem like a great place to start. In my opinion, this kind of weather calls for warm brownies fresh from the oven – preferably rich, fudgy brownies with a gooey caramel swirl and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

Are you with me? Great, let’s make Salted Caramel Brownies!

Earlier this week, I baked a batch of Erin McDowell’s Basic Fudgy Brownies (recipe on Food52 here), which is a fantastic brownie recipe in its own right, and you should totally give it a try. But because I can’t leave well enough alone, I tweaked a few things and added some ingredients and this recipe is the result.

A few notes before we get to baking:

• You’ll want to use either a double boiler or a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt the chocolate & butter. This helps to make sure the chocolate melts slowly and doesn’t scald.

• This is an intensely chocolatey brownie. If you want a little less intensity, you can replace the bittersweet chocolate with semisweet, and/or add another 1/4 c sugar.

• I used Ghirardelli’s 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips, both for the melted chocolate and the chips to stir in at the end. I love their intense, silky chocolate flavor. Feel free to use your favorite chocolate.

• I used this homemade dulce de leche for the caramel, but you can use any caramel sauce you like – the thicker the better. Or try peanut butter if you’re not a caramel fan. Or better yet, make 2 batches – one caramel and one peanut butter, because peanut butter brownies sound amazing too.

• For the coarse sea salt I use Maldon sea salt flakes. This salt is one of my favorite things and I use it every chance I get. It’s also great on roasted veggies, french fries, truffles, chocolate chip cookies, etc, etc. Duluthians, you can get Maldon salt flakes at Duluth Kitchen Co in the Fitger’s building. Or it’s available online as well.

• A note on baking time: I included a wider range here, because it depends a bit on what type of pan you’re using. If you use Pyrex or metal, it will take about 20-25 minutes, but if you use ceramic like I did, it’ll be closer to 30 minutes. Your best bet is to check them at 20 minutes, and then every few minutes after until they’re done.