Sweet, Salty, Chewy, and Crunchy Brownies
I seriously have no idea what to call these things. If I listed all the ingredients in them, they’d become something along the lines of “Pretzel, Peanut, Salted Caramel Brownies”. But I kind of like describing them by the contrasting aspects of those ingredients. Hence “Sweet, Salty, Chewy, Crunchy Brownies”. My friend M preferred to just call them “Super Brownies”. Whatever you decide to call them, they’re awesome.
I whipped these up for a little gathering of friends and we could barely put a dent in them! They’re very rich and indulgent, so even though I had cut the 8×8 pan of brownies into 16 pieces, a bunch of us still prefered to share one brownie. Definitely plan to have a cup of cold milk nearby when you enjoy these.
Sweet, Salty, Chewy, and Crunchy Brownies
Yield: 16
Ingredients:
1 batch brownies (made from mix or scratch)
1 (11 ounce) bag Kraft Caramel Bits, or about 3/4 of a bag of Kraft Caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup half & half
1/2 tsp sea salt
12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening
1 cup mini pretzels, slightly broken
1 cup lightly salted peanuts, roughly chopped
Directions:
Line an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with foil all the way to the top and brush with oil. Make the brownies and cool completely.
Melt the caramels with the half and half in a large bowl in the microwave on high heat. Stir every thirty seconds until melted. Pour over cooled brownies. Sprinkle sea salt on top of caramel. Let cool until set.
Melt the chocolate and shortening in a large bowl in the microwave on high heat. Stir every thirty seconds until melted. Mix in the pretzels and peanuts. Spread over brownies. Cool and serve.
Recipe adapted from The Cooking Photographer
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love white chocolate! It tastes especially good in cheesecake (and blondies, too). Can’t wait to try this recipe.
beantownbaker — March 3rd, 2013 @ 11:11 am
I haven’t made a white chocolate cheesecake yet, but I bet the subtleness would be great in cheesecake.
I never realized blondies had white chocolate! These look so good! I looove white chocolate but love it even more with a burst of semi-sweet too.
beantownbaker — March 3rd, 2013 @ 11:12 am
Not all blondies are created equal. Some have white chocolate and some don’t. I think from now on, I’m going to use this recipe for my base recipe for blondies.
Oooooh these look great! I’m in the same boat with white chocolate. I loooove dark, and always get a little turned off by the “fakeness” of white chocolate, but lately, it’s been a welcome addition.
these look absolutely fabulous!!
oh yum. i’m a HUGE white chocolate fan. these sound fabulous!
ok, so i’m wondering if my appeal to a middle of the road crowd could be semisweet chocolate? what do you think?
beantownbaker — April 1st, 2013 @ 8:44 am
I think semi-sweet would work just fine.