Salted caramel pretzel brownies – crunchy pretzel crust topped with rich, fudgey dark chocolate brownie and a sticky, gooey, sweet-salty caramel. Jump to Recipe
Just booked a Gelato Messina appreciation class!! They are normally only held in Sydney, but have just opened up one class per month in Fitzroy (Melbourne) for the rest of this year. Clearly I jumped at the opportunity – two hours of learning to make gelato, having a gelato degustation, getting to try as many flavours as you want out of the cabinet (up to 40!) and taking your own tub of gelato home – there was no way I was passing it up. Gelato Messina is legendary here, having been voted best gelato in Australia by the Good Food Guide, and for good reason: as well as the 40 permanent flavours (salted caramel and white chocolate, chocolate fondant, pandan and coconut, pear and rhubarb..), they also offer 5 weekly special flavours – crazy combinations that constantly bring people back for more. Some of my favourite specials have been the Crack Pie and Cereal Milk (based on Christina Tosi’s infamous Momofuku Milk Bar creations) and the Robert Brownie Jnr (chocolate gelato with chocolate brownie and chocolate fudge), but other recent flavours have included Copper’s Delight (peanut butter and coffee gelato layered with coffee caramel and doughnuts) and LMP (lemon custard gelato with shortcrust, baked meringue and lemon curd). You get the picture.
Also: only two more days of university left for the semester! Cannot believe it. This year is absolutely flying by – I did my first blog post here on January 20th, and now almost four months have passed. I do feel like writing has become easier: both my reviews and recipe posts take less time and the words seem to come a little more naturally than they initially did. And I love it – blogging provides such a different, and more creative, outlet than university work, and gives me a chance to get a bit of perspective and get my brain out of science and study mode, even if just for a short time. However, without a kitchen at college, all this inspiration and motivation to try recipes I have seen on other blogs or attempt flavour combinations I have experienced at cafes is being built up higher and higher – I definitely need to get home soon for the break and spend some serious time baking.
However, I did get to make something pretty amazing (if I do say so myself!) last week, which I couldn’t wait any longer to share with you. I commandeered a friend’s kitchen to make these Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies for Cathy’s birthday – we had been eyeing up a few similar recipes during lectures (oops) and her upcoming birthday presented the perfect opportunity to surprise her with them. Without a 20x30cm tin available, I ended up using a 20×20 tin (probably better considering how rich they are!), and adapted a few different recipes – so was a little apprehensive about the result.
They turned out to be an absolute winner. The crunchy, salty pretzel crust blended with the brownie – rich, fudgey, dark chocolate – and the sticky, gooey, sweet-salty combo of the caramel topping to create the perfect mouthful of omg-just-one-more. Yes, the runny caramel can make a bit of a mess, and leave you with sticky fingers, and yes, it can be a little tricky to cut – but it is SO worth it. Keep it in the fridge so the caramel doesn’t melt absolutely everywhere, and pull it 10 or 20 minutes before serving to get it back to that perfect state of melty gooey crunchiness. YES.
- 1 cup crumbed pretzels (this is easiest done in a food processor, but you could also crush them in a bag with a rolling pin or something!)
- 75 g butter , melted
- 1 tbsp brown sugar , packed
- 160 g unsalted butter
- 1 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 85 g (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup cream (120ml)
- 1/2 -1 tsp table salt (according to your tastes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sea salt for sprinkling
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Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a 20 x 20 cm tin with baking paper.
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Mix together the crumbed pretzels, melted butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Tip into the lined tin and spread out in an even layer, packing it down firmly.
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Bake for 7-8 minutes, then remove to cool while you finish making the brownie.
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Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C. Place the butter, salt, sugar and cocoa in a medium sized pot. Cook over a low heat until the butter is melted and it is completely combined. Do not let boil (if you do or it gets very hot, cool the mixture down in the fridge/freezer for 5 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients).
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Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously until the batter looks shiny and well blended. Stir in the vanilla essence.
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Stir in the flour and baking powder until fully blended, and then mix vigorously for 30 seconds (about 40 strokes)
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Spread the batter evenly over the crust in the tin. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out slightly moist with batter. (a few crumbs is okay).
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Remove to let cool.
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To make the caramel, first measure out all the components so you are ready to go (it happens quickly!).
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Heat the sugar in a medium pot over medium-high heat, stirrng constantly with a wooden spoon. It will form clumps and start to melt into an amber liquid - watch carefully, ensuring it doesn’t catch/burn.
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When it is melted and golden-brown, add the butter and whisk until combined (this may take a couple of minutes). Be careful as the caramel will bubble and steam vigorously.
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Drizzle in the cream slowly, again whisking constantly until fully combined (1-2 minutes). Remove from the heat.
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Stir in the vanilla and salt to taste. Leave to cool.
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Pour about 3/4 - 1 cup of the caramel over the brownie, spreading out to make an even layer. Refrigerate for 2-4 hrs, until set, then sprinkle with freshly ground sea salt.
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Cut with a large sharp knife, heated under hot running water.
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Keep refrigerated, but allow to soften a little at room temperature before serving.
You will have some caramel left over which can be kept in the fridge - but I am sure that it will not last long! You could heat it to serve over ice cream, make another brownie but this time swirl the caramel through the mixture before baking, serve over french toast or pancakes for breakfast, or even just eat by the spoonful straight from the fridge - the possibilities are endless!
I like how you added pretzel crust for crunchiness and saltiness, sounds divine!
Thank you! 🙂
These brownies look seriously wicked.. I love anything sweet and salty so the pretzel addition here is just perfect!
Haha yes – the rise of salted caramel in the last few years is a testament to the popularity of the sweet-salty combo! x
These look entirely too delicious. Brownies and caramel is probably my favorite dessert on the planet. Congrats on reaching four months blogging… The time really does fly by!
Thank you – it is a little scary how fast time passes sometimes! And brownie and caramel is definitely one of mine too – recently saw a recipe for chocolate salted caramel soufflé so think I will have to give that a go soon..
Oh lucky you with the Gelato Messina class! That’s one of the main things I’d move to Melbourne for… Gelato Messina whenever the hell I feel like it! And these brownies look. soooo. damn. good.
Thank you! And yes, Gelato Messina is a major win – they are opening another one a lot closer to where I live pretty soon which is going to be very dangerous!
These babies look a-maaazzing. I love the idea of a pretzel base. Salty and sweet is the best!
I know, wish I could thank whoever first came up with salted caramel!
What type of cream? Heavy cream?
Hi Shauna! In NZ we only get one type of cream at the supermarket, just called cream, but I had a quick look for you and I think it is equivalent to heavy cream in terms of the fat percent. The cream that I used is about 38% fat, and I think heavy cream is roughly 36-40% so is the most similar. Thanks for your question – hope you enjoy the brownies! 🙂
Oh me oh my! These look ahmazing! I want them in my belly now!
Thanks Trina!
How are you
OMG these look unbelievable! I need a few of these right about now!
I made these yesterday for my boyfriend’s 30th birthday, and they are AMAZING!!! He loved them!!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 🙂 I was nervous about making the caramel but your instructions were clear and easy to follow!!
That is so amazing to hear Charlotte, thank you so much! Glad he loved them and you didn’t have too much trouble with the caramel – definitely worth it for all that sticky sweetness haha. 🙂
I’ve followed this recipe twice amd it has tasted great both times but unfortunately the pretzel crust crumbled completely both times to the point where barely any stayed attached to the brownie. Did this ever happen to yours?
Hi Jared! I’m sorry about that, it hasn’t happened to me so far. It is most likely something to do with the ratio of pretzel to butter, and how finely crumbed the pretzel is – next time try adding a tablespoon or two more butter to make the crumb more moist, and then really press it down into the tin as firmly as possible – it should stick together much better. Hope that helps! 🙂
Can one use a box of brownie mix if they don’t have cocoa powder?
I don’t think that would work, just because brownie mix has heaps of other things in it besides cocoa, like flour and raising agents. You do need cocoa for these brownies unfortunately! Would love to know what you think if you give them a try.
I made these the other day and brought them into work. The uncontested opinion was overall fantastic! Everyone loved the sweet salty crunchy chocolaty texture and flavours. An Olympic gold medal for these! I ended up making the recipe exactly as stated. I was nervous making the caramel but it was easy and turned out to perfection. I sprinkled with pickling salt as it has the coarsest granules. I must make it again very soon as hubby was miffed I didn’t save him any.
Oh so glad they turned out so well for you, that is absolutely lovely to hear! And glad the caramel wasn’t too tricky either. Thanks so much for letting me know! 🙂
This is so my style – the salty bits and sugar sweetness of chocolate and caramel. Looks so delicious!
Cant wait to try it, however it was very hard to understand as you used cups and also grams. I had to google search how to translate grams to cups and rewrite the recipe.
Hi Stephanie, sorry about that – especially early on in my blogging/recipe writing I wasn’t as careful with using consistent units. Have been meaning to go through and standardise them! Usually you can find converters online pretty easily though.