Brownies are delightful. There is something wonderful and indulgent about brownies. Brownies need to be rich, chocolate-y and goo-y. No cake like brownies here. If you want cake like brownies, make a cake.

Over the years I’ve search for the perfect brownie recipe, and I always seem to come back to this recipe from David Leibowitz. I’ve tried others, I’ve modified others and I’ve tried my own, but whenever I want really good brownies, I go to this one. But … I may have stumbled onto the best alteration of these brownies possible – caramel. I made caramel sauce right before Christmas and I had a jar full left over in the fridge, just sitting there, taunting me. (just look at the picture – it taunted me every time I opened the fridge looking for kale or potatoes. So caramel brownies it is.

I am also in inherently lazy baker so I shortened a few steps in the recipe. I mixed all the dry ingredients without sifting, then added the wet and just combined. Pour that into the pan and pour on the caramel (about a quarter cup) and swirl it in. That was it. I baked it for a bout 35-40 minutes – I started checking it at 20 minutes, but it really does take much longer than 20-25. (I also used an 8×11 pan lined with foil, but I don’t think it matters much – no matter the size of the pan, I generally end up needing more than 30 minutes to cook the brownies.)

The results – oh my goodness! Talk about a near perfect brownie. These are rich, chocolate-y and goo-y. There is enough caramel in them to taste it, but not so much it overpowers the brownies. I cut them into rather large squares, but that’s ok – I can then “split” a brownie with Bob and feel good that I’m not eating the whole thing. … Or I can just eat the whole thing and call it dinner.