Dark Chocolate Brownies With Salty Caramel Drizzle

Ingredients

For the Brownies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 4 oz. good quality, unsweetened chocolate
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten, room temp
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate chips

Ganache

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon butter, at room temperature

For the Salted Caramel Sauce

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 12 Tablespoons butter, sliced into pieces, and softened
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoons flaky sea salt (you can use kosher salt or flaky sea salt)

Garnish

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice)

Directions

Brownies

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. Set aside.
3. In a large, heavy bottom saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat.
4. Stir frequently until smooth and combined.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar until combined.
6. Beat in the eggs and vanilla by hand to combine thoroughly.
7. In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa,and baking powder.
8. Use a wooden spoon, to mix the dry mixture to the wet mixture gradually.
9. Fold together until just combined. Do not over-mix, small remaining lumps are fine.
10. Fold in chocolate chips.
11. Transfer brownie batter to prepared pan.
12. Place into the preheated oven and bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few crumbs attached.
13. Do not bake until toothpick comes out totally clean, or it may be over-baked.
14. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
15. Cool completely before frosting.

Ganache

1. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan, and pour it over the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Let stand for 1 minute.
2. Gently whisk in the butter, until both the butter and chocolate are melted.
3. Spread ganache on cooled brownies. Sprinkle on the chopped nuts.
4. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes

Salted Caramel Sauce

1. Place the sugar into a heavy saucepan.
2. Spread out the sugar to evenly cover the bottom of the pan and heat the sugar over medium high heat, whisking frequently.
3. Once the sugar starts to break down and melt, keep stirring until all the clumps are gone.
4. Insert a candy thermometer into the melted sugar.
5. Turn the heat to medium and cook stirring all the while until the sugar turns a reddish-brown color.
6. When the thermometer reads 350F. add the butter chunks.
7. The mixture may bubble up when you do this, so be careful not to get burned.
8. Stir the butter into the caramel sauce until completely melted.
9. Slowly add in the cream and whisk together until a smooth sauce forms.
10. Stir in the salt.
11. Let the sauce cool until it's manageable before using.
12. Put a small amount into a piping bag and drizzle the desired amount of caramel sauce over the brownies.
13. Save rest of sauce in fridge for future use on other desserts.