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….
Bc of the 1kg Dulce de leche from Argentina as a gift…..all along i have no idea how to use it and was sitting in the fridge since earlier this year…..
Thanks Nagi for the recipe…..the brownies & caramel mixed really well and my BF couldn’t stop eating lol
Love your one pot recipes as well!
Thanks again xxxx
Hi Nagi
love your recipes and the easy way you cook without so much fuss I want to try your brownie but wish there was a video cause it makes easy to follow your recipes. I made your caramel slice and was so yummyyyyyyy Thank you so much – God bless you for sharing
I loved your caramel slice recipe, I am trying this tomorrow. I am also making salted caramel slice next time, will let you know how I go
Thanks Nagi xxoo
Hi Nagi! Thanks so much for the recipe, my brownie is in the oven right now! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Just one quick questions, my caramel wasn’t really pourable and looked like it sunk into the batter when I started placing it on top. Would you know what could’ve gone wrong? Did I overlook it? Shouldn’t I let it cool while I prepare batter? Should I refrigerate my batter next time to make it a bit denser and easier to put my caramel? Should I freeze caramel and then just put chunks of it instead?
Many thanks, Lidiia
Hi Lidiia! I’m afraid it should not be cooled, because as you found it, it sets! Just pour it over while hot. Though dolloping in chunks would still be fabulous! Thank you for reminding me about this recipe, I have been meaning to make a video for this recipe for ages 🙂 N x
Video recipe would be amazing!!
My brownies turned out yum, almost like the ones on your pictures, even though I cooled the caramel. My coworkers loved it 🙂 Thank you very much for your recipe!!
WHOOT! I’m so pleased to hear that! N x
Hi, can’t wait to try the salted caramel brownies!! Yummm… But, you suggest for us “yanks”, is there any other substitution, rather than maple syrup instead of ‘golden syrup”?? Do you think American ‘Corn Syrup’ would work?? It’s a little thin, but then maple syrup is too. I don’t want to get that far into the recipe & then mess it up!! TRAGEDY! Also, have you tried baking the brownie first, then slice through the middle (horizontally), then putting the caramel on bottom ‘slice’ of brownie & chill it all together?? Would it be any easier, not quite so gooey?? How dare I mess with your recipe, right??! Thanx so much for all your yumminess!! Sincerely, Jan Patterson
jan@linqline.com
Can these be frozen or will it mess up the caramel?
Hi Bri – I can’t remember if I tried freezing but pretty sure it will be fine 🙂
Chocolate salted caramel brownies, YUM!! Mine look nowhere as nice as yours but they are tasty. Love your recipes and you are my go-to when I need some inspiration.
Awesome brownie recipe! Will definitely be making this again. Next time I need to cook it longer than 28 minutes. The middle was severely undercooked but the edges were perfect. Also, I made the the salted caramel last so the brownie batter got firmer as it sat and this made it easier for me to spread the remaining brownie batter on top of the salted caramel.
Hi Nagi
How to achieve perfect, separate layer between brownie and caramel? do i have to bake the brownie first before putting the caramel in to the brownie? do you have any tips Nagi?
Thank you
I wasn’t able to figure that out without compromising the brownie batter. Hence why I have wonky lines! 🙂 N xx
Hi nagi,
can i substitute condensed milk with something?
Sorry Sharon, I can’t think of a sub 🙂
I really want to make this recipe but for some reason the recipe got cut off
Salted Caramel
1.Place the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally for the first 1 minute, then when it is heated (when you see wisps of steam), whisk constantly (leisurely, not vigorously!) for 7 minutes. (Note 6) It should be a very pale golden colour.
2. Remove from stove and whisk for 30 seconds. (Note 6)
3.
Can you fill in the end for me?
Sorry Esther! Looks cut off but that’s it 🙂 Use per recipe (step 6 in brownie recipe) 🙂 N x
Nagi. These are way too naughty and my 2 favorite sweet ingredients …chocolate & caramel. As you said, “diet starts Monday” but I’m going to make these tomorrow (Monday) so diet starts Tuesday.
I’m a mite savoury person like you but got to try this.
It seems my diet is ALWAYS starting tomorrow….. 😂
This is so good. The second recipe of yours that I have made and I was really happy with the results of both. Thankyou for sharing.
That’s SO GREAT to hear Denise! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hello, Nagi.
What if I am using a microwave convection oven. What do you think will be the right temperature using that convection function of the microwave. Would it still be 170 C or should I lower the temperature and how long should I bake the brownies?
Many thanks.
Does that work like a normal oven???
Is there a particular saucepan you used to make the caramel?? I followed every instruction but it never got thicker.
Hi Briana! Just my every day Scanpan one. Did you wisps of heat? I am guessing the stove just wasn’t high enough?
I did. I increased the heat a little bit after the seven minutes to bring it more on the high of medium high and it eventually just started to boil. It was a gas stove — I’m not sure if that changes anything 🙁
And it didn’t change colour and thicken?? So weird so weird! I mean, condensed milk with all that sugar in it should definitely change colour when cooked!
2 for 2!!!
This was my second recipe from your website and it’s a HIT!
The salt to caramel to chocolate ratios are perfect.
Have shared with co-workers and they’re hooked too.
PS you must be the most popular person at work!
Fantastic! So glad to hear you and your co-workers enjoyed this Kay, thanks for letting me know! N x
Can sea salt/kosher salt be used in the caramel? Or be added to the top? I love getting granules of salt when eating sweets.
Sure can Jen! And YES to adding salt on top 🙂 N x
Hi! I’d like to make these and ship them to my boyfriend, who is currently hiking the Appalachian Trail. Would they keep/ship well?
Wow, that’s devotion! They are quite dense and moist and will stay that way for 4 to 5 days 🙂 So as long as you pack them tightly so they don’t get jostled, they should ship great!
Just wanted to follow up to say my boyfriend received the brownies, and he loves them! I did store them in the freezer before shipping because they were a little soft, but they arrived in one piece just fine. He ate 4 in one sitting, but I guess he can afford it with all the hiking he’s doing ? Thanks again!
WOO HO! So glad you loved them! N x
Hi there,
I’ve been looking for a really long time for these brownies! Can’t wait baking them. Thank’s for sharing :D!
Greetings,
Petra
Hope you enjoy them Petra! Personal favourite – lots of time went into creating this recipe! 🙂
I had high hopes for these. They looked amazing! They ended up all over my oven. I’m not sure what happened but I’m sitting in a smokey kitchen with inedible goop everywhere. I’m by no means a novice baker. I’ll chalk this mess up to “one of those days”
Gosh Renee, that’s a shocker!!! I wish I could have been there with you, I have no idea what could have happened to explode in your oven!! How odd!!!!