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Caramel brownies recipe made from scratch with chocolate caramel hearts on top for a cute Valentineโs day dessert for two.
I call dibs on that center brownie with the oozing caramel heart. You can have the rest.
Wait wait, I want a corner piece, too! I choose the lower rightโthough itโs the smallest, it has another oozing caramel heart.
The way to my heart is oozing chocolate caramel hearts, did you know?
The hunt for chocolate heart candy for caramel brownies:
More fun facts about me: I spent 30 minutes in Target last week sorting throughย every brandย of chocolate hearts to findย the prettiest one for brownies. I spread all of the bags out of the floor, and then went down the row, googling them one by one, to see what they looked like unwrapped.ย If you were one of the people that I scared away from coming down the Valentineโs Day candy aisle, I am so sorry. Itโs clear now. The crazy lady is goneโyouโre free to go back to Target now.
After intense research, I settled on the Hersheyโs brand caramel-filled hearts. Iโm a bit of a Valentineโs Day candy expertย (<โclick for proof!),ย and I believe this is the first year Hersheyโs has made these hearts. Or, at least itโs the first year for the new heart design. A heart within a heart, oh so romantic! You won me over.
The runner-up was a Nestle crunch heart. Okay okay, maybe it was only the runner-up because I ate most of the bag on the way home from the store and didnโt have enough to make these caramel brownies.
There are Butterfingers hearts and Reeseโs peanut butter hearts this year, too! You have so many options to make the cutest heart brownies! What a time to be alive, people!
Okay, Iโm going to leave you with the recipe for these caramel brownies. You guys love my small-batch brownies recipe so much, that you always ask if you can double it and bake it in a 8ร8-inch square pan. And the answer is YES!
It tastes very close to a boxed brownie mix (which, letโs be honest: major plus), and I canโt get enough of the crackly top.
Here, the chocolate hearts get in the way of the beautiful crackly brownie surface, but itโs a sacrifice Iโm willing to make.
Because chocolate caramel hearts are the way to my heart. I think we went over this.
Caramel Brownies
Caramel stuffed chocolate brownies for two.
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 9 caramel-filled chocolate heart candies (I used Hershey's caramel hearts)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325, and make sure an oven rack is in the lower third of the oven.
- Line a 8x8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper in two directions, overlapping. Leave enough excess to make handles so it's easier to pull the brownies out once they're baked.
- Next, in a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar and cocoa powder.
- Microwave for 30 seconds, stop and stir, and microwave for another 30 seconds. The mixture will be quite hot.
- Let the mixture rest on the counter for a few minutes to cool, stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture feels warm, not hot, stir in the vanilla and salt. Finally, stir in the eggs.
- Add the flour to the batter, and using a spatula, vigorously stir the mixture for 50 strokes. This activates the gluten and makes for a rich, chewy brownies.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan evenly.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes, until the top is dry.
- Unwrap the chocolate caramel hearts, and press into the top of the brownies evenly. Slice and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 395Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 591mgCarbohydrates: 84gSugar: 33gProtein: 8g
Hey , I was wondering if you could you some sort of other caramel chocolate? it wonโt look as pretty but here in aus i never ever see love heart shaped chocolate.
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Hey Gemma (love your name, by the way!),
Yep, I think should use any type of little chocolate candy that you like :)
Haaa! I would also call dibs on the oozing caramel hearts!!! They all look beautiful and delicious, though!
Hi loving the recipe i was sold at oozing caramel ???? Do you have the recipe for uk peeps who use grams or ounces. Thank you!!
The King Arthur flour website has a great conversion chart. It is one of the most comprehensive and accurate one I have used. i prefer to weigh all my ingredients so I use it quite often.
Would it be bad to use my stand Kitchenaid mixer for this instead of stirring with a spatula?
Hmmโฆso you probably could. Iโm not entirely sure if the batter would touch the beater since itโs a small batch recipe, though!
I canโt wait to make these tonight to bring to my small office for Valentineโs Day tomorrow โฆ BUT. Those Hersheyโs hearts? I canโt find ANYWHERE that they make the caramel ones anymore. How bizarre, right? Such a classic, why would you stop making it, Hershey?? You would think itโd be fairly easy to find another caramel chocolate heart shaped replacement? Youโd be so wrong. Iโve been looking everywhere and itโs so hard to find something semi-equivalent! I really wanted the chocolate/caramel combo, but I guess Iโll see when Iโm at the store tonight what Iโll actually end up with. Iโm not worried that whatever I end up with โ or even if they end up plain! โ theyโll still be delicious. :)
325โ or 325โ?
Fahrenheit.
I made these and since I didnโt have any caramel hearts, I used the new Hershey strawberry chocolate hearts. Iโll have to wait to try them. Theyโre still too hot to cut.