Pretzel crust brownies with salted caramel
7 Feb
See that deliciousness? Those brownies floating above this text may be the best brownies I have ever made IN MY LIFE.
I was inspired by Bakers Royale’s similar brownie recipe, though I found her actual brownie recipe not to be to my liking. So I adapted her pretzel crust, then went on the hunt to find a fudgey, chocolate-packed brownie. And it wasn’t easy.
I didn’t want to use cocoa; I was out of bittersweet chocolate (though I had plenty of unsweetened chocolate); and some recipes just looked wonky. Add on the fact that brownies have never been my strong suit, and I ended up spending several hours looking up brownie recipes online. Then I decided to close my laptop, walk over to my jam-packed cookbook bookcase, and I pulled my giant off one of the shelves (then proceeded to rearrange the rest of the books so they wouldn’t tumble out).
I thumbed through the index and found the pages on brownies, glanced at the ingredient list, balked slightly at the inclusion of cake flour, then read about the science behind the recipe … and it all makes sense. The Test Kitchen team found that all-purpose flour rendered the brownies too gummy—by switching to the cake flour, the texture improved. I’m all for science, so I moved forward with this recipe.
The result is a massive beast of a brownie. And once you add the salted caramel, it turns into a heavenly beast. Make these for your next party and cut them into small pieces (no larger than 2 inches by 2 inches) or make them even smaller into brownies bites. Your guests will thank you and leave you with a licked-clean plate.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and center the rack in the oven.
Line a 9"x13" pan with aluminum foil so that the foil overhangs the edges. Spray the foil with nonstick spray.
To make the pretzel crust, pulverize the pretzels in a food processor until broken down into small bits.
Add the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon to the food processor and pulse to combine.
Pour in the 1/2 cup melted butter, pulse until the crust begins to come together (you'll see it darken slightly and begin to clump).
Scrape the mixture into the lined baking pan, spreading out evenly, then pat down, making sure the crust is spread into the corners.
Bake for 10 minutes until fragrant, then cool while making the brownie batter.
For the brownies, turn the oven down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate over a bain marie (water bath). Once the chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove it from the heat and gradually whisk in the sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking in-between each addition.
Add the vanilla, whisking to combine.
Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, gently folding in with a silicone spatula until the batter is smooth and even.
Spread the brownie batter over the pretzel crust evenly, then bake until a toothpick comes out of the center with just a crumb or two, 30-40 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack until the brownies come to room temperature, 2 hours.
For the salted caramel, stir together granulated sugar and water in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.
Remove from heat and slowly add in cream until very smooth.
Add the vanilla and salt and stir until fully combined.
Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.
You can add the caramel once the brownies have been cooling for at least 1 hour. Drizzle it over the top, then allow it to set for at least 90 minutes before serving.
To serve, lay a piece of parchment paper (or even newspaper) on your work surface. Gripping the overhang of the foil, slowly pull up and out of the pan, placing on the paper below (doing this will keep your work space tidy).
Pull the foil away from the edges, and slice to serve.
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