Salted Caramel Brownies

I based this off a recipe on thepioneerwoman.com that was based on a recipe that was based off a bakery brownie . . . . you get the idea.

By the time I made all my substitutions I think I can safely say I've made it my own way.  I considered making brownies from scratch buuuuut I had a pack of brownie mix in my cupboard so I took the easy way out.

I mixed up the mix according to the box directions.  This takes about 45 seconds.  Then I spread it thinly in a well greased jelly roll pan.  This takes about 53 seconds.  Then I put it in the oven and checked them at 10 minutes (because they were so thin I didn't want them burned to a crisp)  So my total time for the brownies was about 12 minutes.  We'll say 15 to be on the safe side.  Can you see why I opted for the easy way out?

It's really better if the brownies are less chewy and more well done.  I am not good at this.  Mine turned into brownie globs instead of brownie bars.

Let the brownies sit and cool completely while we work on the real beast, the caramel sauce.  Once again, I started with the recipe from Pioneer Woman, but then I realized I didn't have enough sugar.  So I kind of fudged the recipe to be more like the caramel from my caramel corn.

This meant adding brown sugar to replace the white sugar.  Do you know what the difference is between white and brown sugar?  Anyone? 

Molasses. 

Brown sugar is just regular sugar with molasses added.  So brown sugar works just the same but with a little flavor added.  I mixed 2 cups brown sugar with 1/2 cup of water and let it come to a boil.
 

Then I replaced whole cream with evaporated milk.  Pretty close.  Not exact but it seems to work fine for my purposes.

When the sugar mixture had boiled for about 5 minutes I added 1/2 cup evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup of butter.  According to the original directions I should have been done by now.  But this looked really thin to me so I decided to use the method I do with caramel corn, and let it boil until it gets to the soft-ball stage.  What's that you say?  I'll show you!

Drop a small amount of the caramel into some cold water and see what happens.  See how it all spread out and basically dissolved into a caramel colored cloud?  That means it's not ready yet.  Keep boiling.

Keep boiling.

You'll be able to see the caramel getting thicker and the bubbles more solid.  Let's test it again with a clean cup of water.

Dribble a small amount in the water and . . . see how it all clumps together in small blobs?  Now you know that it will solidify somewhat when it cools instead of remaining completely runny.

Take the pan off the heat and add about 1tsp of vanilla to give it a little extra flavor.

Then I poured it over the cooled brownies.

Now this is the best part.  Sprinkle a generous amount of kosher salt over the caramel.  This gives it such an amazing flavor!

That little bit of salt will just put you over the edge.  Miyagi agreed that it was what made him keep going back for another bite.

Looking back I think I'd add a little salt to the caramel as well as sprinkling it on top.

I was planning to bring these to my work to share.  Miyagi and I don't need to eat them all at home by ourselves . . . right?  The more I think about it the less generous I'm feeling.

I think I know what we're having for dinner tonight.