Caramel Stuffed Brownies {w/coconut pecan frosting}

I decided I wanted to make German chocolate something to bring into work one day because one of my coworkers loves German chocolate cake. So I did the obvious and browsed Pinterest for various recipes until I found one for caramel stuffed German chocolate brownies, which was caramel stuffed brownies with a coconut pecan frosting. I wasn’t overly fond of the recipe though because it called for box brownies. I’m generally not a fan of box anything unless we are talking about Kraft macaroni and cheese or boxes of pasta. So instead I found a recipe for caramel stuffed brownies at A Spicy Perspective and paired it with a recipe for coconut pecan frosting found at Simply Recipes and got this gem of a brownie.

This brownie is rich as sin and I would recommend eating it cold straight out of the fridge. I was slightly annoyed when I served them at work because I found that the caramel ribbon in the middle sort of disappeared into the brownie. Plus when you tried to cut the brownies they turned into a what looked like a heap or ball of brownie/frosting. I noticed when I ate one cold out of the refrigerator that the caramel ribbon was distinguishable and I generally just liked it better cold.

In the middle of making these brownies my condo complex was in crisis. My downstairs neighbor texted me to tell me there was water coming out of the ceiling in one of his bedrooms and he wanted to know if I had a leak. Thankfully I did not. But while I was stirring the caramel on the stovetop, the plumber came knocking to see if he could find a leak (he didn’t) and I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to the caramel sauce and it may have gotten a bit too brown on the bottom. It ended up turning out OK but my advice to you is to pay attention while making this recipe and try not to have any emergencies that would take you away from the stove.

brownie ingredients.

2 ¼ c. granulated sugar
1 c. all-purpose flour
⅔ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ c. extra dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ c. butter, melted
6 large eggs
1 T. extract
11.5 oz milk chocolate chips

caramel ribbon ingredients.

14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
16 oz caramel squares
1 tsp. salt

directions.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl sift in dry ingredients and stir to combine. Then whisk in melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir in the chocolate chips.
In a medium-sized sauce pan combine the sweetened condensed milk, caramels, and salt. Set over medium heat. Stir until the caramels have melted into the condensed milk. Then remove from heat.
Spread half the brownie batter in the prepared baking dish and evenly distribute. Pour the caramel evenly over the batter. Tilt your pan from side to side and front to back to get the caramel to coat the brownies evenly, if necessary. Drop the remaining brownie batter on top the caramel and spread over the caramel covering the caramel completely.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Don’t worry about the brownies being a bit undercooked as they will firm as they cool. Cool completely.

coconut-pecan frosting ingredients.

3 large egg yolks
8 oz evaporated milk
1 ½ c. lightly packed brown sugar
4 oz butter
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. kosher salt
3 c. sweetened, shredded coconut
1 c. chopped pecans

coconut-pecan frosting directions.

In the pot in which you made the caramel ribbon, whisk together the egg yolks, evaporated milk, and brown sugar.
Add the butter and warm over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, coconut and pecans. Spread on top of cooled brownies and stick in the fridge to cool completely. Remove the brownies from the fridge once they have cooled completely, lift the entire sheet of brownies out of the pan by the edges of the parchment paper and cut immediately.