Skip to main content

Salted Pretzel Brownie Bites with Caramel Sauce


from the kitchen of Kathey H.
A couple of days ago a friend of mine from high school posted some photos on social media of "ridiculously sweet, but delicious" salted caramel pretzel brownies...and said that they were the anti-Camilla dessert.

I didn't understand exactly what she meant until she said that that the caramel was ice cream topping from a jar/bottle and brownies from a box. Okay. So I accepted her challenge to make a from-scratch version.

I made a salted pretzel crust, topped it with a ricotta-chocolate brownie, and drizzled it with homemade caramel. Needless to say: there were lots of steps involved in this dessert, but it was worth it. Rich, decadent chocolate-y goodness!

If you plan to try this, please read all the way through the recipe as my ingredient lists are divided into the different layers' elements. Would love to hear how yours turn out.


Ingredients for the salted pretzel crust

  • 1-1/2 C pretzels, crushed (I used the Everything Pretzel Thins from Trader Joe's)
  • 1 C flour (I used a white whole wheat flour)
  • 1 C organic granulated sugar
  • 1/2 C butter, melted
  • 1/4 C coconut oil, in a liquid state (heat if needed)
  • 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Procedure
Place the crushed pretzels, flour and sugar, in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Melt the butter and coconut oil and pour it into the baking dish. Use a fork to blend it together until clumps form. Press the remaining base lightly into the pan.
Ingredients for the ricotta-chocolate brownie

  • 1 C organic granulated sugar
  • 1 C butter, softened
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 C whole milk ricotta
  • 6 oz chocolate chips or chunks, melted
  • 1 t pure vanilla extract

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, melted chocolate, and vanilla. Fold in the ricotta. Spoon the batter into the pan with the pretzel crust and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The brownies will be dark brown, slightly crispy at the edges and firm on the top.  

While the brownies are cooling, make the caramel.

Ingredients for the fleur de sel caramel
  • 1 C organic granulated sugar
  • 1/2 C packed organic brown sugar
  • 1/2 C honey
  • 1 1/2 C organic heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 C butter
  • 1 t Maldon fleur de sel flakes

Procedure
In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, honey, whipping cream, butter and sea salt flakes. Simmer over medium heat, monitoring the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 244 degrees remove the pot from the heat. Cool for at least 10 minutes. You'll need about 1/2 C of caramel.



To finish...
Place intact pretzel thins on top of the brownie. Cut into small pieces.


Drizzle with caramel. Enjoy!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir