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.

Print Save

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

    Pin It

18 Responses to “Browned Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies”

  1. #
    1
    FunandFearlessinBeantown — March 30, 2012 at 7:53 am

    I have my tried and true ATK version but I always love discovering new chocolate chip cookie recipes!

  2. #
    2
    Elizabeth — March 30, 2012 at 8:27 am

    Brown butter makes everything better!

  3. #
    3
    In and Around Town — March 30, 2012 at 8:31 am

    I am pretty boring with chocolate chip cookies and stick with the recipe on the back of the bag, but the size of these and the twist on ingredients makes me want to give these a go!

  4. #
    4
    Mrs. Williams — March 30, 2012 at 8:35 am

    I use half the bag of chips too – I like them that way! 🙂 I might have to give this one a shot – I really liked the brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip I made last week.

  5. #
    5
    Judy — March 30, 2012 at 9:40 am

    I love trying new ccc recipes also.  You don’t mention what the texture of the cookie is.  I like crispy edges and chewy centers, very hard to find.

  6. #
    6
    Tara @ Chip Chip Hooray — March 30, 2012 at 9:44 am

    Well, I know what’s happening with the half block of cream cheese in my fridge just waiting to be used up! Cookies are in my future, score. 😉

  7. #
    7
    Colleen — March 30, 2012 at 10:52 am

    I love adding sea salt to chocolate things! I haven’t tried it on chocolate chip cookies, but it sounds delicious.

  8. #
    8
    Carrie's Sweet Life — March 30, 2012 at 8:29 pm

    These look awesome, I am still searching for the perfect recipe!

  9. #
    9
    PB and Peppers — March 31, 2012 at 7:05 am

    The cookies sound amazing!  I love the addition of cream cheese!  CC is my favorite cookie and I am terrified to make them because I have no self control.  I love the dough and I love the cookie!!  

  10. #
    10
    Megan — April 1, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    These sound like they take the best components of all my favorite cookies (browned butter, a sprinkling of sea salt) and merge them together.

  11. #
    11
    nicole @ I am a Honey Bee — April 3, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    I always stick with Tollhouse cookies. I need to open my eyes to the wide world of chocolate chip cookies varieties out there!

  12. #
    12
    Courtney — April 15, 2012 at 11:14 am

    I made these today and they were fantastic–thanks for sharing the recipe! (*^_^*)

  13. #
    13
    mega — May 16, 2012 at 9:16 am

    aahh this is recipe that i looking for to make choco chip cookies… thank you for post it 🙂

  14. #
    14
    Kaila — January 4, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    Made these but didn’t know you have to refrigerate the dough prior to baking hope they come out okay!

    • beantownbaker — January 5th, 2013 @ 4:31 pm

      They should still turn out ok. They might spread a bit more than mine do. Let me know how they come out!

  15. #
    15
    Arghavan — February 16, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    Made these with the kiddies today and WOW! They are delicious! It made a lot of dough though (I made smaller cookies than the recipe called for), can I freeze the dough in small balls?

  16. #
    16
    Jess — February 19, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Making these today! Can’t wait to see how it turns out. I have another great brown butter choc chip recipe but never tried with cream cheese. Thought I would share my tip for the sea salt…I love a salted cookie! I wait until the cookies have cooled 5 minutes before sprinkling, it’s not too hot that the salt sinks into the batter but not too cold that the salt just bounces off.

  17. #
    17
    Clara Gonzalez — November 22, 2021 at 12:01 pm

    These look amazing! I am definitely going to make them!

Leave a Comment