Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies
Fudgy and rich, these brownies are studded with pools of melty salted caramel sauce and chunks of pretzels. Finish them off with extra caramel sauce and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt for utter dessert perfection!
Servings 16 brownies
Ingredients
For the Salted Caramel
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 TBSP salted butter
- 3 TBSP heavy cream
- pinch flaky salt
For the Brownies
- 1 oz unsweetened chocolate can sub 1 oz semi sweet
- 2 oz semi sweet chocolate
- 1 stick salted butter or unsalted, if that's what you prefer
- 3/4 cup granulated or cane sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tsp vanila
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup pretzel pieces
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Make the Caramel: Add sugar to a small pot over medium heat. Stir constantly, breaking up chunks as needed. The sugar will seem to be doing nothing at first, but it will eventually melt completely. Cook, stirring, an additional minute or two if needed, until the liquid is a nice copper color. Reduce the heat slightly and add the butter - whisk in as best you can. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Return to heat and cook a minute more. Add a pinch of sea salt. Place a piece of parchment paper on a dinner plate and spray lightly with cooking spray. Pour on the caramel sauce. Freeze 30 minutes.
- Make the Brownies: Chop the chocolate. Add to a medium bowl with the butter and melt in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until completely melted. Whisk in the sugars, then the eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt until just combined. Pull the caramel out of the freezer and cut into chunks. Reserve a handful for the top of the brownies. Add the rest to the brownie batter with the pretzels and stir in. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, and scatter remaining caramel pieces on top.
- Bake: Bake for 31-33 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out with moist crumbs, and will come out clean when inserted into the outside edge of the brownies.
- Serve + Store: Dig in right away or let brownies cool completely if you want to cut into neat squares. Store, tightly covered, in the fridge for up to 6 days.
- Optional Extra Caramel Sauce: I added extra caramel sauce on top of the little pools of caramel once the brownies were out of the oven. You can do this or skip it - totally up to you! Here's the recipe for my simple 10-minute caramel sauce.