Sea Salt Turtle Brownies
I love salted caramel. I think it’s one of those magical ingredients on earth. Sea Salt Turtle Brownies take full advantage of the decadent taste of salted caramel and ‘crack’ it up with chocolate!
I learned a very important lesson while making the caramel. Do not under any circumstances try to make it over medium or medium high heat. Let’s just say that the smell of burnt caramel tends to last a lot longer than desired.
Of course, that disaster did not stop me from diving right back into the kitchen to perfect my caramel for Sea Salt Turtle Brownies. I just slowed it down by lowering the heat to medium low. It took a bit longer for the sugar to dissolve and caramelize but the end result was exactly what I wanted.
Swirling salted caramel into the brownie batter rather than blending it in allows both the chocolate and caramel flavors to shine. Topping the brownies with pecans before going in the oven is the crowning touch for Sea Salt Turtle Brownies.
Oh, there is ONE itty bitty thing you should know. Sea Salt Turtle Brownies were very hard to stop eating, even after the first five!
| Caramel Turtle Brownies | Print |
- 3.75 ounces (109 grams) unsweetened chocolate
- 1.25 ounces (37 grams) semisweet chocolate
- 17 tablespoons (244 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (133 grams) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (52 grams) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
- 3 eggs (149 grams)
- 2¾ cups (588 grams) sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 grams) heavy cream
- ¾ teaspoon (6 grams) fine sea salt
- 1¼ cups (131 grams) pecan pieces
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Line a 9" x 13" baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place 1¾ cups (375 grams) sugar in small sauté pan. Cook over medium low heat until the sugar caramelizes, stirring periodically. Nothing will happen for about 7-10 minutes, then the sugar will harden into little balls until it very quickly caramelizes. Remove from the burner and stir in 5 tablespoons (69 grams) butter followed by the cream and sea salt.
- Melt the unsweetened chocolate, semisweet chocolate and remaining 12 tablespoons (175 grams) butter together. Stir until smooth.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Set aside.
- Place the eggs and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Mix until blended.
- Add the melted chocolate/butter and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients.
- Transfer the batter to the parchment lined baking pan and use an offset metal spatula to spread it in the pan. Drizzle the caramel over the top. Swirl the caramel into the batter but do not blend it in completely. Sprinkle the pecans over the top.
- Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool before cutting into bars.
