Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies
I may have misled you guys the other day when I was talking about that Salted Caramel Sauce. Sure, I gave away most of it as gifts. And sure, Hubby enjoyed it on top of ice cream. But one of the real reasons I wanted to make it was so that I could make these Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies.
If you like turtles, you’ll love these brownies. I made these while my mom was visiting since she loves turtles. I whipped them up in no time and then we had to wait the brutal couple of hours for them to chill and set up. We all really enjoyed these brownies. They were very decadent without over-doing it.
One Year Ago: Chocolate Hazelnut Baklava
Two Years Ago: Two Potato Chowder
Three Years Ago: Smashed Chickpea Salad
Four Years Ago: Lemon Cupcakes
Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies
If you like turtles, you'll love these salted caramel pecan brownies!
Yield: 24 brownies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup caramel sauce
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the pecans on a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, about 7 minutes. Coarsely chop and set aside.
Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil, leaving several inches overhang on the sides. Grease the foil with butter or cooking spray and set aside.
Place the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bowl. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth, then remove from heat.
Whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla and continue whisking until glossy and thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and salt and mix until just blended. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Stir half of the chopped pecans into your prepared caramel sauce (if you use store-bought, you may have to heat it up slightly before doing this). Drop the caramel pecan mixture by spoonfuls onto the brownie batter. Gently swirl with a wooden skewer or thin metal spatula.
Scatter the remaining pecans and chocolate chips on top.
Bake for about 35 minutes.
Set the pan on a wire rack and allow brownies to cool completely in the pan. Grab the foil overhang to lift the brownies out of the pan. Cut into squares and serve.
Extra brownies can be kept in an airtight container up to a week and will stay even fresher if wrapped individually in plastic wrap.
Recipe from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather, as seen on Cook Like a Champion
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 freezing dough but somehow most ends up in my tummy unbaked when I do that 🙂
What a great gift! I’m thinking that would be wonderful for all sorts of occasions. Thanks for the idea!
These are adorable and I love that idea! Two questions, though: 1) Were these as good as the cookies from the other recipes? and 2) When you freeze them, do you bake right from frozen?
Great questions Carly – As far as comparing them to the other cookies. I enjoyed the chocolate M&M cookies the best, but they were REALLY chocolatey. The other non-chocolate M&M cookies were a bit more chewy and they had nuts in them, so they had a different vibe. This recipe was more of a classic M&M cookie for sure.
As far as baking from frozen, you can def just go straight from freezer to oven. Bake them ~13 minutes instead of ~11 and take them out when they look done.
these were delicious!
they look so cute all frozen up 🙂
I love the pink and red M&Ms. Thanks for the idea of freezing the cookie dough.
I was going to ask you the same thing as Carly, well the first question. These cookies are cute. Your freezing method reminded me that I have a bunch of sugar cookies still in the freezer! Do you know how long cookies can stay in the freezer?
I don’t know how long they will last in the freezer. I have a tendency to forget about things in my freezer… I’d guess a couple months? Anyone have ideas?
What festive little cookies 🙂 I love them! I also like the fact that you froze them. I bet they were delicious. Make sure to enter the All Through the Year Cheer event for Valentine’s Day 🙂
I think that sounds like a great way to spend valentine’s day. It can be intimidating the way it’s so hyped up. The cookies look very festive, love ’em!
We don’t do “valentine’s day” either since my MIL was born on the 14th and daughter’s birthday is the 15th – besides, its more important to say you love someone everyday, not just one day out of the year. Love the idea about freezing the cookie dough in preshaped form and giving that away. Wonderful idea!
I am looking for cookies that travel well for my soldier adopted through Soldier’s Angels and these look like a winner!!
Mmm, these were so tasty! Happy Valentine’s Day!
These are just too cute!! I love M&M cookies too!!
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Just had to add my two cents on the idea of giving cookie dough frozen and ready to be baked – genius! For some reason, I’ve never thought of that, even though I’ve given cookies frozen to people to be defrosted when they’re ready to eat. I love the dough idea!
YUM-these look absolutely delicious! I love the pink and red M&Ms!