Wow.  These things are amazing.  They are super moist, and almost more like fudge than a brownie.  The salted caramel wasn’t too noticeable but definitely added a different element to the brownies.

This recipes uses a boxed brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli’s chocolate supreme), a Young’s chocolate stout beer, and homemade salted caramel.  I love Ghirardelli chocolate and have fond memories of visiting the Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco as a child and adult.  It’s close to the wharf, and we’d always walk over there to get some chocolate and then stop by In N Out burger for a cheese burger animal style.  Ah, California how I miss you.

I don’t think that a dessert can get much better, or sweeter, than this.

You will need, this is for the Ghirardelli chocolate supreme brownie mix (if you don’t use this brand gather the ingredients for what’s on the box):

1 box of Ghirardelli chocolate supreme brownie mix

1 egg

1/4 cup plus a little Young’s chocolate stout beer (replace the water with beer if you’re using another box)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1.  Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and spray your 8×8 baking pan with oil.

2.  Mix the Young’s chocolate stout beer, oil and egg in a bowl and beat until fully mixed.  Then add the powdered brownie mix and chocolate syrup.

3. Pour half of the brownie batter into your baking pan.

4.  Pour 3/4 of the homemade caramel (recipe below) on top of the brownie batter, and then pour the remaining brownie batter on top.  (I also poured dark chocolate sauce over the caramel before the second layer of brownie batter, but I think this was overkill)  Drizzle the remaining homemade caramel on top of the brownie batter.

5.  Bake for 45-60 minutes.  The brownies will still be gooey, but somewhat solidified on top like this:

6.  Let the brownies cool completely before eating them, otherwise you’ll just have a more gooey mess but hey don’t let that stop you from eating warm gooey salted caramel chocolate amazingness!

Caramel Filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoon butter
• 7 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1. Add the sugar and water into a saucepan over medium low heat.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved.  Use a spoon to remove any crystals that form on the side.

2. Once the sugar has dissolved increase the heat to high.  Now and then, using the handle, give the pot a swirl to keep the mixture moving  – do not stir the mixture directly.  The mixture will start to bubble after a minute.

3. As the mixture darkens to a medium amber color, approximately 5-7 minutes, add the butter, heavy cream and kosher salt to saucepan.  The mixture will bubble wildly.  Whisk to combine.

A note: even if the heat is on high the sugar might start to clump and not be liquidy (mine turned from clear liquid to clumps) – don’t worry!  Just begin to whisk the sugar so it all becomes hot again.  If you wait too long you’ll have to chop up the sugar clumps with a wooden spoon.  I turned the heat down to low during this declumping process so the caramel wouldn’t burn.  This clumping didn’t happen the first time I made caramel but it did this time for some reason.  After the sugar is clear liquid again (no clumps) it will start to turn that beautiful amber color, then you can add the butter, heavy cream and salt DO NOT add these ingredients when the sugar is still clumpy and before the sugar has turned into the amber color of caramel.