Turtle Brownies

I had a special request from a very special friend of mine for a post on some turtle brownies. We used to make these all the time together as kids and she would just go crazy over them. Only difference is, back then we used a box and this recipe is from scratch. Wish you were here to try them Angela!

For those of you that are wondering, the only difference between a turtle brownie and a regular brownie is that a turtle brownie has caramel and some type of nut added in. If you like the original, just omit the caramel and nuts from this recipe and you will be golden.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup of your favorite nuts (I used walnuts)
caramel

To start off, pre-heat your oven to 350°. Mix your sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in your eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla and mix with a spoon until just incorporated. It's really easy to ruin brownies by over mixing them so be careful here. Stir in your nuts and pour into a baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

You can chose the size of baking dish you want to use based on how thick you want your brownies. I always use a medium sized dish and my brownies come out at about an inch thick. If you want really thin brownies, use a 13x9, BUT don't go any larger than this unless you double your batch. Also, if you use a larger baking dish you will need to reduce the cooking time. Likewise, if you use a smaller baking dish, you will need to increase the cooking time.

Once your brownies are in the pan, get your caramel ready. I usually just use squeezable caramel because it is so much easier and faster BUT if you want to truly make yours from scratch you can buy caramel pieces and heat them on the stove. If you do this, I would strongly recommend using a double boiler because caramel is REALLY easy to burn.

Once you have your caramel ready, pour in onto your brownie in a zigzag pattern (you can use as much or as little caramel as your heart desires). The goal is to spread it around the pan without completely drenching your brownies in caramel. Next, take a knife and run it through your caramel pattern (this helps push some of the caramel down into the brownie). Bake your brownie for 30-35 minutes (if you are using a medium sized baking dish). Your brownie will be done when you insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out relatively clean. It's hard to see the caramel in the final picture but trust me, it's there in all it's gooey goodness. :)

 

Enjoy &

Happy Cooking!