Salted Caramel Brownies with English Toffee

Enjoying brownies and kickin’ back because sometimes you just don’t want to do anything!

July is almost over and I can hardly believe the summer is more than half way over.  I have a list of “to-do’s” and things around the house that have been staring me in the face since early June and the list keeps growing. .  Even though I love this digital world of ours and all these devices and apps we have. .  I’m still old school sometimes. I still hand write to-do lists and I write in an organizer. Weird, I know but sometimes I prefer actually using a pen and writing on paper.

I’m sorry but I don’t need, nor do I want, Siri telling me or reminding me to do things. 🙂 I’ll take care of the things I need to do in my own time and they will get done. .  eventually. Now, if they had a version of Siri with John Legend‘s voice, that might be a different story.  . he’s my new crush. Love his voice.

Until then, I am going to sit back and down some of these brownies. These are seriously the best brownies I have ever had. I’ll probably have to run a few miles so that I don’t feel guilty eating 3 or 4 of these bad boys. .  I’ll just add that “run” to my to-do list. 😛

So, as soon as I saw this recipe on Pinterest from I Can Cook That‘s Blog, I knew I had to have these. She got the recipe from My Recipes/Cooking Light. I kind of followed both and omitted the espresso powder (simply b/c I could not find this anywhere?!) and added English Toffee bits on top after I poured on the caramel. I have some tips for those of you who try this recipe so please read carefully. .  again, these are seriously the BEST.

Brownie Lovers, holla back. Hoooo Hoooo!

ingredients

Brownies:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray (for the brownie pan)

Topping:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided (don’t sweat it if you can’t find fat-free evaporated milk)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ounce bittersweet or dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup English toffee bits (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare brownies: weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through baking powder) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
3. Combine 6 tablespoons of butter (melted), eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
4. Add butter mixture to the flour mixture; stir to combine.
5. Scrape the brownie batter into a 9-inch square glass or metal baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 19-21 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
6. To prepare the caramel topping: melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons milk; cook 2 minutes.
7. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and powdered sugar; stir with a whisk until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over cooled brownies.
8. If adding the english toffee bits, sprinkle them on after the caramel so as the caramel sets, the toffee bits will stick.
9. Let stand 20 minutes or until set.
10. To prepare the chocolate for the topping: Combine 2 tablespoons of the evaporated fat-free milk and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH for 45 seconds or until melted, stirring after 20 seconds. Stir just until smooth.
11. Pour the melted chocolate in a big ziplock bag and cut the corner tip off. This way, you can drizzle your chocolate easier. Cut off just a little of the tip so the hole isn’t too big. If it’s smaller, the line of chocolate that you drizzle on top of your brownies will be thinner and prettier. I cut my tip too big. oh well, next time I know what to do.
12. Squeeze the chocolate over the caramel and english toffee bits. Decorate as you wish; go crazy!
13. Sprinkle with sea salt; let stand until set. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Better shot of the dark chocolate I used. I usually don’t like dark chocolate (I’m more of a semi-sweet gal) but this chocolate was divine! I got this at Whole Foods.

Just added the caramel and sprinkled on the toffee bits.

Beauty shot. Word.