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.
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.
Salted Caramel Turtle Brownies
Ingredients
Fudgy Brownies
- 2 ⅔ cups White granulated sugar
- 5 Large eggs cold
- 1 Egg yolk cold
- ⅔ cup Oil canola or vegetable
- 10 TBSP Unsalted butter melted
- 2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 TBSP Cornstarch
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup Milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup Mini chocolate chips
Salted Caramel
- 1 cup White granulated sugar
- 5 TBSP Unsalted butter room temperature and cubed
- ½ cup Heavy cream room temperature
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting
- 6 TBSP Unsalted butter slightly cold
- ½ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 TBSP Light corn syrup
- 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups Powdered sugar sifted
- 3 TBSP Milk
- ½ cup Chopped pecans for decoration
- ¼ cup Mini chocolate chips for decoration
Instructions
Fudgy Brownies
- Preheat oven to 325F. Spray a 9X13 inch pan with non-stick baking spray. Line the bottom and 2 sides of the pan with parchment paper. Spray the pan again.
- Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar for 5 minutes on high. While the eggs are whipping, sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and corn starch in a medium bowl.
- Once eggs are done mixing, add in melted butter, oil, and vanilla. Mix on low until combined. Take the bowl off the mixer and add in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula and gently fold in the dry ingredients. Mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour the brownie batter into the pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes. The brownies should be slightly underdone in the middle. The brownies will cook more in the hot pan as it cools. Place brownies on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Salted Caramel
- Lay out all ingredients, so they are ready. The caramel cooks fast! Heat the white sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until all sugar crystals are melted. The sugar will clump up at first, but will melt. Keep stirring!
- Once sugar is melted, let it sit for 30 seconds or less until the caramel turns to an amber color. Take off the heat immediately. The caramel can burn fast, so keep an eye on it. Add in half of the cubed butter. Stir, it will be bubbly. Add the rest of the butter. Stir until fully melted.
- Add in half of the heavy cream. Stir until mixed it, it will be bubbly. Then, add in the rest of the heavy cream and stir until completely combined. Add in vanilla and salt. Pour caramel in a glass measuring jar. Allow to cool completely before using on brownies.
- Poke the cooled brownies with wooden dowel thicker than a toothpick and thinner than a pencil or anything that size. I personally used the point of a kitchen thermometer. Pour a half cup of caramel over the brownies. Use a rubber spatula to spread the caramel over the brownies. Cool in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight.
Chocolate Frosting
- While the brownies are cooling, start the frosting. Pull the butter out on the counter for 30 minutes before making frosting. It should be cold to the touch but still show a finger indent if you press on it. While the butter is on the counter, sift the cocoa powder and powdered sugar into 2 separate bowls.
- Using a mixer, beat the butter on medium for 1 minute until it is light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Add in cocoa powder, corn syrup, and vanilla. Mix until combined. It will be dry in texture.
- Add in powdered sugar and mix on low. Mix until mostly combined. The mixture will be very and crumbly. Add in the milk and mix on low at first until it starts to combine. Then, turn the mixer to medium-high and beat until the frosting is smooth and silky. It will become lighter in color.
- Frost the brownies with the chocolate frosting. Top with the chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips. Drizzle ¼ cup of salted caramel over the top of the brownies. Serve immediately and store covered in fridge.
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!
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!