Easy Peasy Caramel Sauce + Caramel Cake Brownies!

I was online the other day searching and searching for the best way to melt store-bought caramels, but had trouble finding consistent or clear directions.  You see, I had about half a bag of individually wrapped caramel candies leftover from some caramel chunk cookies I made not too long ago.  I knew I wanted to attempt some sort of caramel swirl brownie concoction, but had never melted down caramels like this.  I'd made caramel sauce from scratch before, but had yet to venture down the store-bought road.  

The method I decided to try was easy and only required the caramel candies & one other ingredient - cream - soy creamer, to be exact.  You could actually use cream, milk or a soy version of either, which is helpful in a pinch when you don't have time to make a store run.  I melted down the candies using the makeshift double-boiler technique, as you'll see below.  The amount of caramel sauce this recipe made gave me far more than I needed, but that just turned what I thought would be caramel swirl brownies into a dominantly caramel cake brownie concoction.  Unexpected?  Yes - but my friends & I ate every last bite with a side of vanilla ice cream to boot - it was a most excellent & delicious derailment of a recipe.

Caramel sauce and caramel cake brownie recipe both below!

Easy Peasy Caramel Sauce
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
- 1 pkg store bought caramel candies (you will use 20 caramel pieces for this recipe. I used Kraft caramels)
- 1/2 cup soy creamer (or milk, soy milk or regular cream/half & half)
*medium pot/sauce pan for boiling water
*smaller pot/sauce pan to set inside of medium pot for melting caramels

Directions
Fill medium pot about halfway full with water and bring to a boil.  Add caramels and milk or cream to smaller pot.  Place the smaller pot inside the larger one so the bottom rests just above the boiling water below.  Stir the caramels together with the milk/cream to help evenly heat & breakdown the caramels.  Continue to stir frequently until caramels and milk/cream are completely combined - should take about 10-15 mins to complete.  This method heats the mixture slowly to prevent them from burning.


Caramel Cake Brownies
Makes one 9x9" pan

Ingredients
- 10 tblsp unsalted butter

- 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 4 oz. chocolate baking squares, chopped)

- 1 1/4 c sugar

- 2 whole eggs & 1 egg white, beaten

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 c all-purpose flour

- 1 c Easy Peasy Caramel Sauce

- Vanilla ice cream for topping

Directions

Make the Caramel Sauce following the directions above.  Set sauce aside to cool while you make the brownie batter - should take about 15-20 mins - the caramel should be cooled to room temperature but not hardened by the time you are ready to add it to the brownie batter.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9" baking dish with foil, grease and set aside.

Using the double-boiler method, fill a medium pot about halfway full with water and bring to a boil.  In a smaller pot/sauce pan (or stainless steel mixing bowl, as I used), add chocolate and butter and hold over pot of boiling water, stirring chocolate & butter together with a wooden spoon until melted and mixture appears smooth.

Remove from heat.  Stir in sugar and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time, stirring to totally combine after each addition. Stir in flour just until combined - mixture will be thick and look a little gritty.  Pour batter evenly into prepared pan. Pour all of caramel sauce into batter and swirl with a knife to spread evenly throughout brownie batter.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 mins, or until top springs back when lightly touched and edges are starting to pull away from sides of the pan.  Let cool in pan.  Using the edges of the foil, lift the brownies out of the pan and cut into pieces - top with a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream & enjoy!