These salted caramel turtle brownies are a chocolate lovers dream! These fudgy poke brownies have homemade salted caramel all over the top. They are topped with a silky chocolate frosting, pecans, chocolate chips, and more caramel! These are the ultimate fudgy brownies that are loaded with flavor.
The Best Poke Brownies
This recipe of brownies use my base fudgy brownies that I use for every single brownie recipe I have made. The brownies are super fudgy and full of chocolate chips. They also have a crinkled top and they are the perfect brownie.
What make these brownies different is that they are poke brownies! I poked tons of holes into the brownies and poured salted caramel over the top. The caramel soaks into brownies and makes them taste rich and gourmet.
Then, these brownies are topped with a luscious chocolate frosting, pecans, mini chocolate chips, and MORE caramel! These are seriously the best brownies.
How To Make Fudgy Brownies
These fudgy brownies are made by whipping the eggs and sugar together for 5 minutes. This is what gives the brownies the crackle top!
Start by using a mixer with a whisk attachment. You can use a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Then, beat the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar for 5 minutes on high. This beats a ton of air into the eggs and gives you a little rise to the brownies.
While the brownies are mixing, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cornstarch together in a medium bowl.
Next, add in the melted butter, oil, and vanilla into the whipped eggs. Mix it on low until combined.
Then, take the batter off of the mixer and gently fold in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold it in. It takes a minute, but don't be too rough because you don't want to knock any air out of the brownies.
Next, add in all of the chocolate chips! The brownie batter should be thick with the chocolate chips.
How To Easily Remove Brownies From The Pan
First, spray a 9X13 inch pan with baking non-stick spray. The baking spray is key because it includes flour. Then, line the bottom and 2 sides of the pan with parchment paper. This will allow you to easily remove the brownies later.
Bake the brownies for 50-55 minutes. To prevent the brownies being too hard, the middle should be slightly underdone. It will continue baking as it cools.
Steps For Making Salted Caramel
Salted caramel might seem intimidating to make, but it is actually super easy!
- Room temperature heavy cream and butter- About 2 hours before making the caramel, pull the butter and heavy cream out of the fridge. If the butter or heavy cream is cold, it will congeal.
- Heat sugar- Heat the sugar over medium heat. It will clump up at first, but keep stirring until all of the sugar crystals are melted.
- Let it sit- This step takes less than 30 seconds. Let the melted sugar sit until it turns into an amber color. It also will give off a very slight nutty smell. If it has a strong nutty smell, that means it is burnt. Going from just melted sugar to amber color happens very quickly!
- Add in butter and heavy cream- Once the caramel is an amber color, take it off the heat immediately! Then, add in half of the butter at a time. It will bubble a lot, but keep stirring! Next, add in half of the heavy cream at a time.
- Add in the vanilla and salt- I prefer to use flaky salt, it gives a stronger salt taste.
I recommend making the salted caramel a day before making the brownies. It will need a few hours to cool down enough to pour on top of the brownies. For more tips and tricks, check out my Homemade Salted Caramel recipe.
Poking The Brownies
Once the brownies are cooled, poke the brownies all over. I used a tip of a kitchen thermometer, but you can use a small wooden dowel. Use any thing that is thicker than a toothpick, but thinner than a pencil.
Next, pour ½ cup of the salted caramel over the top of the brownies. The salted caramel should be a pourable consistency. If it is too thick, microwave for 10 seconds.
Then, place the brownies in the fridge/freezer for the caramel to soak in. If using the fridge, let them sit for 1 hour. If using the freezer, let them sit for 30 minutes. I am impatient, so I used the freezer.
Silky Chocolate Frosting
While the brownies are in the fridge/freezer, start the frosting.
- Slightly cold butter- To get slightly cold butter, place on the counter for 30 minutes.
- Sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder- Both of these need to be sifted, but in separate bowls. This prevent any grittiness in the frosting.
- Beat the butter- Beat the butter until there are no butter chunks left. It should be smooth and silky.
- Add in cocoa powder- Also, add in the corn syrup and vanilla. The texture will be very thick and dry, but mix until it is all combined.
- Add in powdered sugar- The mixture is going to be very dry. Don't worry it comes together once you add the milk
- Beat in the milk- This is where the crumbles comes into a super silky frosting! Beat the frosting on medium until it is silky and lighter in color
Spread the frosting over the poked brownies. Make sure you take the brownies out of the pan first! When you spread it on brownies, you will see just how luscious this frosting is! It pairs so well with these brownies!
Decorating The Salted Caramel Turtle Brownies
Now, the easy part! Decorating these brownies doesn't take very long and completes the brownies.
Top the brownies with chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips. I used regular raw pecans. You can toast the pecans if you want, but you don't have to.
Next, drizzle with more caramel!
Cutting The Brownies In Perfect Squares
Since there is frosting on these salted caramel turtle brownies, it can be easy to get messy brownies.
To fix that, place the brownies in the freezer for 15 minutes. This helps to set the frosting. Then, use a sharp knife to cut the brownies. Make sure to clean the knife between each cut.
Storing The Fudgy Brownies
Since there is frosting on these brownies, store them in an air tight container in the fridge. They will last up to 5 days in the fridge.
The brownies taste great cold!
Other Recipes To Try
Make sure to tag me on Instagram @stephaniesweettreats and leave me a review below if you made these brownies. I hope you loved it! To get more ideas follow me on Pinterest.
Turtle Brownies
Ingredients
Fudgy Brownies
- 2 cups White granulated sugar
- 3 Large eggs
- 1 Egg yolk
- ½ cup Oil canola or vegetable
- ½ cup Unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup All-purpose flour
- 1 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 ⅓ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup Chopped pecans
Salted Caramel
- 1 cup White granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoon Unsalted butter room temperature and cubed
- ½ cup Heavy cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- Chopped pecans for decoration
Instructions
Fudgy Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 9X9-inch pan with baking nonstick spray. Line the bottom and two sides of the pan with parchment paper and spray again.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.¾ cup All-purpose flour, 1 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon Cornstarch, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the sugar, eggs, and egg yolk on high speed for 5 minutes. It will become pale and light in color.2 cups White granulated sugar, 3 Large eggs, 1 Egg yolk
- Add the oil, melted butter, and vanilla and mix on until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low until combined.½ cup Oil, ½ cup Unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- Take off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl, mix in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans.1 ⅓ cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips, ½ cup Chopped pecans
- Pour brownie batter into the pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes until edges are set and the middle is only slightly underdone. If you stick a toothpick in and it has batter on it, bake for another 5-10 minutes. If it comes out with crumbs, it is ready.
- Cool the brownies in the pan on a cooling rack completely before taking them out of the pan. Make the caramel while the brownies bake.
Salted Caramel
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar until all the sugar crystals are melted. Stir using a whisk.1 cup White granulated sugar
- Stop stirring and let it sit until it turns amber in color. This process is very quick (less than 30 seconds). Take off the heat and add in half of the cubed butter and whisk until combined. Repeat with the rest of the butter.4 tablespoon Unsalted butter
- Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for 30 seconds until hot, slowly whisk in the cream until combined. Add in the vanilla and salt.½ cup Heavy cream, 1 teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- Pour the hot caramel into a glass measuring cup and let it cool completely.
- Take the brownies out of the pan. Use a wooden stick, chopstick or any small round thing to poke the brownies. Poke a hole in the brownies and leave 1 inch space between each hole.
- Spread ½ cup of caramel on top of brownies and let it sit for 5 minutes to let it soak into the holes. Then, add extra caramel and chopped pecans on top of brownies.Chopped pecans
M says
Amazing. Thanks for the recipe
Stephanie Rutherford says
I am so glad you loved the recipe!! They sure are rich yummy brownies! If you made them and want to tag me on instagram I would love to see it!
Kathy Wakefield says
These rich brownies were heaven on earth. They are the perfect mixture of decadent chocolate and salty caramel. The mini chocolate chips and pecans add just the right crunch. I tried them both room temperature amd chilled. I highly recommend chilled! You won't be disappointed. Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!