Caramel-Soaked Brownies

Sometimes mistakes are the key to success. I set out to transformed a recipe for coconut caramel brownies into a chocolate-packed, gluten-free masterpiece, but ended up with a gooey, super chocolately, fudgey brownie that exceeded my expectations. I think I erred in my caramel-making. I should have probably allowed it to thicken a little more (and possibly cool some) before pouring it over the warm brownies, but since I was so impatient, I ended up with concoction that has a fluffy, cake-like consistency when warm and a dense fudgey texture when refrigerated. Plus, I had a cup of caramel leftover for topping the brownies, ice cream, and anything else I could think of.

Brownie Ingredients:

-1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

-1 stick of butter

-1/4 cup applesauce

-2 cups sugar

-1 tbsp vanilla extract

-3 eggs

-flour mixture: 1/4 cup sorghum flour, 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/2 cup hazelnut (or other nut) flour, 2 tbsp tapioca starch, 3/4 tsp xantham gum

-4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

-1/2 tsp salt

Brownie Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. Combine half of the chocolate chips and the stick of butter (cut into chunks). Microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring after each one until the chocolate is just melted. Be careful not to burn it. You could also use a double-boiler to melt the chocolate.

3. Whisk together the dry ingredients.

4. Combine the wet ingredients. Temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the melted chocolate to the eggs so you don’t end up with scramble eggs. If you’re feeling nervous, combine all of the wet ingredients except the eggs; then, beat the eggs and add those to the dry ingredients.

5. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in batches (it took me three). One bonus of gluten-free baking: you don’t have to worry about over mixing. Stir in the rest of the chocolate chips.

6. Pour batter into greased baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. My baking dish was 8″ x 6″; if yours is larger, decrease the cooking time by 5-10 minutes.

Caramel Ingredients:

-1 cup sugar in the raw

-1/4 cup water

-1/2 cup heavy cream

-1 tbsp butter

-1/8 tsp salt

Caramel Directions:

1. Add sugar and water to saucepan over medium heat. Stir, and keep an eye on it. You want it to reach a golden brown without going too dark. This is a little trickier when using sugar in the raw since it starts out light brown. It takes a few minutes, but the color will start to deepen and mixture will begin to thicken. As soon as that happens, remove it from the heat. Like I said above, I was perhaps a little overly cautious and removed the caramel a little early – just as it started to turn golden. However, this mishap is really the key to the dish. You need the caramel to remain a little soupy in order for it to penetrate the brownies.

2. Remove pan from heat, and carefully pour the cream into the caramel. Next, add the butter and salt. Stir, stir, stir.

3. Once the caramel is smooth, pour it over the warm brownies. Mine had been sitting for about fifteen minutes when I poured the caramel over them. You are going to have a lot of caramel. A ridiculous amount. Let the caramel sink into the brownies for about five minutes – you want them saturated, but you don’t want them to get soggy.

4. Pour off excess caramel into a bowl. You may get a few brownie chunks in the excess caramel; don’t worry about it.

Store brownies in the fridge to achieve a fudge-like texture. They return to a cakier consistency when microwaved for 25 seconds. I recommend them on top of ice cream with plenty of caramel, though some purists prefer to enjoy them as they are.