Sweet Tooth Sunday

It's that time again......treats!

Honestly, this particular treat is not what I had planned for today. But the recipe I had planned didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it, so I'll be tweaking that for next week. (two words: panna cotta. HELLO!)

So today we have a new twist on an old favorite instead. Thanks to my sister. Yet ironically, I still don't know if she'd eat it.

Most of you who know me have sampled the goodness that is Caramel/Carmel (whatever floats your boat) Brownies, or at least I've given you the recipe and you've had the chance to make them. If you have that recipe and haven't used it, shame on you. Go make them for breakfast. Or lunch. Or just a snack. I don't know what time of day you're reading this. Just make them NOW.

Crud. Now I have to make them for breakfast. Because just thinking about them makes me need them. They're like that.

Anyway-today's STS is a twist on the good old Caramel/Carmel Brownie. It's good.

Duh.

Cast of Characters:

Yellow cake mix, water, milk, butter, caramel*, chocolate chips. That's it.

Unless you are feeling sassy, then throw some Heath in for a little extra yum. (my advice, give in and use the Heath)

*On the caramel-you can use those little caramel squares (about 50 of them), and an additional 1/3c milk. Melt caramel, then stir in milk. This time I used the caramel sauce, in which case you need to mix in a couple of tablespoons of flour to thicken it. Either way works out.

Ready, set, go.

Mix cake mix, milk and butter together.

'Cause you've already preheated your oven to 350.

Remove a spoonful of batter, set aside.

Or you can eat it right then.

If you don't like the taste of cake batter, slap yourself.

Spread about half the batter into a greased 9x13 pan.

Bake for 6-10min until it looks like this:

While that was baking, you got the caramel ready. Either you melted the caramels and stirred in the milk, or you went this route:

Caramel sauce + 1-2 tbsp flour. Look, it mixes in well:

I promise, it does not change the taste at all. Really.

If you've succombed to the dark side, chop up the Heath bar/bars.

I would never eat a Heath bar.

So why do I love them in baking?

One of those unanswerable mysteries of the universe.

So since you did this stuff while the batter was baking, as soon as that first layer is done, you are ready to move on.

Pour the caramel over the first layer. It just sort of naturally spreads itself out like this:

If it needs a little help spreading (unlike my thighs), then grab a spoon and help it.

Sprinkle chocolate chips and chopped Heath across the top of the caramel.

And now the tricky part. You have to put the rest of the batter on top of that.

First take out another spoonful of batter.

Same drill as before, set it aside, or just eat it now. I vote for the latter. Just use a new spoon, ok? No double dipping. Thankyouverymuch.

You can drop it by spoonful and that works pretty well. I prefer it to spread a little more though, so I kind of spread it apart with my fingers and lay it down across the top. It's a little messy, but nothing that can't be fixed.

Bake that for 15 more minutes, until the top starts looking done. And yes, while that's baking, you can lick the bowl. Geesh.

When it's done it's a lovely golden brown mass of delish!

Voila!

I wanted a pretty final picture of the cut finished product, but this is what happens when you leave that until 24hrs later.

Oh well.

Golden Caramel Brownies

1 box yellow cake mix

1/4 c water

1 /3 c milk

Caramel (either about 50 carmels melted + 1/3c milk, or 1 1/2-2 cups caramel sauce + 1-2 TBSP flour)

1 1/2 c chocolate chips

Heath candy bar, chopped

Combine cake mix, water, milk. Spread about 1/2 of batter into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees 6-10 minutes until done on top. Spread caramel on top of baked first layer, sprinkle with chocolate chips and chopped Heath bar. Top with remaining batter. Bake 15 more minutes until golden brown. Let cool, then refrigerate for approx 30 min or until firm.

Try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting.