Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies

4.25 from 8 votes

Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies

With salty crunch from pretzels and a ribbon of caramel, these brownies are rich, fudgy and quick to make. They bake in an 8x8 pan and make 9 larger or 16 bite-sized brownies.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Keyword: baking, brownie, chocolate, easy baking, easy dessert recipe, salted caramel, sweet and salty

Servings: brownies

Author: Jess Smith via Inquiring Chef

Cost: $6.00

Equipment

8x8 baking pan
Mixing Bowls
Saucepan

Ingredients

1 stick Unsalted Butter (1/2 cup)
3 ounce Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped
1 cup White Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
40 Individually Wrapped Caramels, unwrapped (or an 11-oz bag of Kraft caramels)
1/4 cup Heavy / Whipping Cream
20 Pretzels
Flaky Sea Salt (optional; I like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C.
Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking pan. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine butter and chopped chocolate. Heat, stirring frequently, until just melted.
Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Pour melted butter and chocolate into the bowl, whisking quickly to incorporate the warm ingredients.
Fold in flour until just combined. Pour into baking pan.
In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave caramels and cream in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until melted and completely smooth. (This should take about 2 minutes total.)
Drizzle caramel over brownies and use a butter knife to swirl caramel into chocolate. (I like to sort of fold some of the caramel in so that there are spots of brownie on top mixed with swirls of caramel.)
Place pretzels in a single layer on top.
Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool before slicing and serving. (Note: will slice best if the brownies have cooled completely. The caramel is extremely messy until it has cooled, but also extremely delicious. Around our house, we can rarely resist slicing into them and eating a few while they’re still warm despite the mess of sticky caramel. Just consider yourself warned.)
Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Caramels / Heavy Cream - Melted caramels with some heavy cream will give you a shortcut caramel that holds its shape when it cools but is still soft. If you have another favorite homemade or store-bought caramel sauce that will hold its shape at room temperature, feel free to just swirl that into the brownies. I’ve made these using a thick store-bought caramel sauce as well.

Recipe generously adapted from Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies, Gourmet June 2007.

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