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My Salted Caramel Brownies are rich, fudgy, chocolaty, sweet, salty, and divine! Get your vanilla ice cream ready because this dessert is mind-blowing!
Here are a few more mouthwatering chocolate recipes to try: Easy Triple Chocolate Brownies, Chocolate Cream Pie, German Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Chocolate Beignets and Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake.
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One of my favorite desserts is brownies! I love the rich chocolate flavor, crunch from the pecans, and chewy texture. If I had to choose between brownies or cake, brownies it is all day. I'm also a chocoholic; any dessert menu with anything chocolate is getting ordered, and I will devour it.
I remember the first time I made this recipe for a client to wrap up an anniversary dinner. It was their first time ever having it, and they were blown away! After licking their plates clean (you are free to do whatever you like in the comfort of your home), they asked if there was more for them to have later. That's always a high compliment for a private chef.
This brownie recipe produces a chewy, thick brownie with a crispy topping, but the salted caramel sauce takes it to the next level without being overly sweet. Don't get me wrong, it's still a decadent dessert, but it's pleasant in every chocolate, salty, and caramel way. Let me show you how to make it, plus a homemade salted caramel sauce.
What are Salted Caramel Brownies?
Salted caramel brownies are a dessert that combines the flavors of chocolate and caramel. The brownies are usually made from chocolate brownie batter topped with caramel sauce.
There are many variations of salted caramel brownies, but most recipes follow the same basic steps. The brownie batter is baked, served with caramel, and garnished with a few pieces of flaky sea salt. Some recipes add nuts or other ingredients like marshmallows, while others use a different type of chocolate, cocoa powder, or chocolate chips in the batter.
Key Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for this salted caramel brownie recipe.
Unsweetened Dark Chocolate
I was taught to use 100% cocoa in my brownies. It has the purest and richest chocolate flavor without adding more sugar.
Unsalted Butter
Use quality unsalted butter for your brownies; you will taste the difference.
Sugar
This recipe calls for two types of sugar, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. We'll only need granulated sugar for our homemade caramel sauce.
Unbleached Flour
I only use unbleached all-purpose flour in my recipes. Who wants to eat bleached flour?
Heavy Whipping Cream
Heavy cream will give our caramel sauce body and creaminess and lighten the color.
Pecans
The brownies must have chopped pecans in them.
Flakey Sea Salt
I only recommend one type of sea salt for your salted caramel: Maldon.
How to Make Salted Caramel Brownie Recipe
I want my salted caramel brownie recipe to be fun to prepare, fudgy, and easy for you. Below are the steps that may seem super involved, but after the brownies are in the oven, we make our caramel sauce—giving us time to clean up and hang out until the brownies are finished cooling after baking.
Brownies:
In a medium bowl, melt chopped chocolate and unsalted butter in the microwave for 2 minutes in 1-minute intervals, and stir until smooth.
Mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and eggs in a large bowl for 3 minutes on medium speed with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract and melted chocolate until smooth. Fold in the flour until the batter is thick and no streaks of visible flour remain.
Fold in pecans until incorporated. Brownie batter will be thick. Line a 8 x 8 square pan with foil or parchment paper, just enough to slightly hang over the edges of the pan. Pour in brownie batter and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 325°F until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Cool completely for 1 hour, use parchment to lift brownies out, and cut into 12 pieces.
Sea Salted Caramel Sauce:
While the brownies bake, make the caramel sauce. Add sugar, water, and salt to a medium pot over high heat, and cook for 5-7 minutes until sugar melts and turns a light caramel color.
Remove from heat, add heavy cream (sugar will steam and bubble up), bring to a boil over low heat, and stir until caramel sauce smooths out. Turn off the heat and stir in butter until smooth. Caramel thickens and turns a dark amber color as it cools.
Assemble: Pour caramel sauce over brownies and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve salted caramel brownies immediately with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
How to Store Brownies
The fudgy brownies are best 2 days after baking but will be fresh for 7 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You can freeze them individually, wrapping them in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe bag for 3 months.
Reheat by popping it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Salted caramel sauce is best 3 days after making it but will be fresh for two weeks in a cool dark place. I like to keep mine in a glass jar. I wouldn’t recommend freezing caramel sauce because the sugars will crystalize when frozen, making the sauce watery.
Reheat cooled caramel in the microwave for 10-15 seconds or until hot and saucy.
Pro Recipe Tips & Tricks
Here are the best practices, techniques, substitutes, and flavor builders you'll need for my salted caramel brownies.
- Place cooled brownies in the fridge for 1 hour before slicing. Cold brownies cut easier.
- You can use a bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate bar instead of unsweetened dark chocolate.
- Do not use table salt; instead, use flaky sea salt. You can use kosher salt or coarse sea salt, but Maldon's flaky sea salt is the best.
- Feel free to use gluten-free baking flour instead of unbleached-all-purpose flour for a gluten-free brownie.
- Using parchment or foil dramatically helps remove the brownies from the pan. Which usually can be difficult.
- Feel free to omit the pecans from the recipe.
- You can use walnuts instead of pecans.
- If you use salted butter for the brownie batter, omit the salt from the recipe.
- I do not recommend swapping unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate bars because you need 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of oil or butter for every ounce of chocolate. That's 24 tablespoons of cocoa powder and ½ cup oil.
- You want to put a lot of air in the sugar and eggs; this will help create a chewy, fudgy texture.
- Room-temperature eggs incorporate other ingredients better than cold eggs.
- Cover your eggs with warm tap water for 5 minutes if you forget to take them out.
- You can use evaporated milk instead of heavy cream in your caramel sauce.
- If you want a lighter color caramel, as soon as your sugar and water begin to turn brown, add your heavy cream because the caramel will continue to develop color as it cools.
- For fun, you can add the caramel sauce to your brownies by placing half the batter in the pan, drizzling in some caramel sauce, then covering it with the remaining brownie batter.
FAQs
Here are the top questions readers have about making salted caramel brownies.
What does salt do to brownies?
The addition of salt to brownies not only enhances the flavor by amplifying the sweetness and chocolate flavors, but salt also takes these desserts to a whole new level.
Can you put salt on top of brownies?
Absolutely, adding salt to brownies will bring out the deep chocolate flavor regardless of whether it's covered with caramel.
Can you freeze salted caramel brownies?
Yes, you can freeze salted caramel brownies. Simply wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer-safe bag. They will keep for up to 2 months.
Do you need to refrigerate brownies?
No, you do not need to refrigerate brownies, but doing so will extend their freshness.
How long do brownies stay fresh?
Brownies will stay fresh for 7 days in the fridge if kept in an airtight container. They will stay fresh on the counter in a container for 3 days.
How many calories are in a salted caramel brownie?
The number of calories in salted caramel brownies very per recipe, but my recipe has x calories per serving.
More Recipes
If you're a fan of all things chocolate like me, here are some fabulous chocolate treats:
- Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Pancakes with Cherry Syrup
- Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
- Chocolate French Toast
- Affogato with Chocolate Ice Cream
- Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Before You Begin
Before getting started, get organized.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F before pulling the salted caramel brownies ingredients out.
Step 2: Measure everything out.
Step 3: We don’t want any surprises, so make sure your oven is calibrated correctly with an oven thermometer.
Step 4: Follow the recipe and get ready for the best salted caramel brownies you’ve ever made.
So, look no further if you are looking for a fantastic brownie recipe that will WOW your taste buds! My salted caramel brownies are sure to please. Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below after you try them out. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
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📖 Recipe
Sea Salt Caramel Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 8 oz. unsweetened dark chocolate chopped
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoons
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
Sea Salt Caramel:
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon Maldon’s salt plus more for garnish
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Instructions
- Brownies: Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a medium bowl, melt chocolate and butter in the microwave for 2 minutes in 1-minute intervals, stir until smooth.
- In a large bowl, mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, and eggs for 3 minutes on high speed until smooth. Mix in vanilla and melted chocolate until smooth. Fold in flour until batter is thick. Fold in pecans until incorporated. Batter will be thick.
- Line an 8 x 8 square pan with foil or parchment paper. Pour in batter and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean; brownie top will be hardened. Cool for 1 hour; use parchment to lift brownies out, then cut into pieces.
- Sea Salt Caramel: While brownies bake, make caramel sauce. Add the sugar, water, and salt to a pot over high heat, and cook for 5-7 minutes until sugar melts and turns a light caramel color. Remove from the heat, add heavy cream (sugar will steam and bubble up), bring to a boil over low heat, and stir until sauce smooths out. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until smooth. Caramel will continue to darken as it cools.
- Assemble: Use parchment to remove brownies from the pan, cut into 12 pieces, then pour caramel sauce over the top and sprinkle with sea salt.
Notes
- Place cooled brownies in the fridge for 1 hour before slicing. Cold brownies cut easier.
- You can use a bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate bar instead of unsweetened dark chocolate.
- Do not use table salt; instead, use flaky sea salt. You can use kosher salt or coarse sea salt, but Maldon's flaky sea salt is the best.
- Feel free to use gluten-free baking flour instead of unbleached-all-purpose flour for a gluten-free brownie.
- Using parchment or foil dramatically helps remove the brownies from the pan. Which usually can be difficult.
- Feel free to omit the pecans from the recipe.
- You can use walnuts instead of pecans.
- If you use salted butter for the brownie batter, omit the salt from the recipe.
- I do not recommend swapping unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate bars because you need 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of oil or butter for every ounce of chocolate. That's 24 tablespoons of cocoa powder and ½ cup oil.
- You want to put a lot of air in the sugar and eggs; this will help create a chewy, fudgy texture.
- Room-temperature eggs incorporate other ingredients better than cold eggs.
- Cover your eggs with warm tap water for 5 minutes if you forget to take them out.
- You can use evaporated milk instead of heavy cream in your caramel sauce.
- If you want a lighter color caramel, as soon as you notice your sugar and water begin to turn brown, add your heavy cream because the caramel will continue to develop color as it cools.
- For fun, you can add the caramel sauce to your brownies by placing half the batter in the pan, drizzling in some caramel sauce, then covering it with the remaining brownie batter.
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