Brownies with Dulce de Leche and Toasted Pecans

These brownies are freaking awesome. Best brownies I've ever made or eaten. They are loaded with globs of caramel and are rich and chocolatey. I seriously love them. Everyone who has tried them says they love em too. I don't think I'll ever look for another brownie recipe. I found this recipe on David Lebovitz's site. I found his website while looking for a good German Chocolate cake recipe once. He's received tons of good reviews, so I trust his recipes to be awesome. 


Don't know what kind of dessert to make for gathering? Make these. Searching for the perfect brownie recipe? Here it is.


Makes 12 brownies.
Bake time: 35-45 minutes





Ingredients:

• 8 T (1 stick) salted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c flour
• 1 c toasted pecans, chopped (optional)*
• 1 c Dulce de Leche or Cajeta

Feel free to skip past the picture demonstration to get straight to the listed directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch square baking dish with foil. Make sure the foil runs up each side of the dish and flaps over on the sides. This makes it easy to get the brownies out after baking and to clean up. Grease the foil with non-stick cooking spray or butter.

                               

     

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate chips and stir constantly over low heat until the chocolate chips have melted.

Remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder until smooth.

Add eggs one at a time and whisk  until combined.

Next mix in the sugar, vanilla extract, and flour until smooth.


 








Gently stir in the toasted pecans, if using.  Highly recommended! 

 

Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking dish. Drop 1/3 of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter. Use a knife to drag through the Dulce de Leche to swirl it slightly. The less you swirl, the larger the caramel chunks in each brownie.

Repeat with remaining batter and Dulce de Leche. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the center feels slightly firm. 

Remove from the oven and cool completely. 

Pull the brownies out of the dish by using the flaps of foil on each side. Cut into 12 squares. 

YUM.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8x8 inch square pan with foil so that it covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. Grease the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add chocolate chips and stir constantly over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Whisk in eggs one at a time. Stir in sugar, vanilla, and flour. Mix in nuts if using. 
3. Pour half of the batter into the baking dish. Drop 1/3 of the Dulce de Leche evenly spaced over the brownie batter. Drag a knife through the batter to swirl slightly. Repeat with remaining batter and Dulce de Leche.
4. Bake 35-45 minutes. Brownies are done when the center feels slightly firm. Remve from oven and cool completely. 

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The creator of this recipe says that the brownies become better on the second day.


You can easily double up this recipe and bake it in a 13x9 inch baking dish. I use a whole 13.4oz can of the Dulce de Leche when I double the recipe.


*To toast pecans, spread 1 cup of pecan halves onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Remove from oven and cool completely before chopping.