Chocolate & Caramel Squares

For the caramel:
Combine the butter, sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until butter is melted and ingredients are one. Increase heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat a bit and keep the mixture simmering until it darkens and thickens. Remove from heat.

For the squares:
I happen to have a Wilton Brownie 24-Square Pan, which I love, love, love and use for all kinds of things. So that is what I used for these. If you do not have that or something similar you feel would work, you can simply make this in an 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper, then cut apart once completely cooled.

Melt 9 ounces (3/4 of the bag) of the chocolate in your microwave for about a minute, stir until smooth (depending on the strength of your microwave, you may need to put it in for an additional 15-30 seconds after stirring).

If using a “squares” pan: Coat the bottom of each square with the melted chocolate. First, tap the pan on the counter a couple of times to help spread the chocolate evenly, then use a toothpick to swirl chocolate around to cover the bottoms fully. Place a couple small pieces of broken pretzels over each square. Place pan in your freezer for 10 minutes to allow it to quick cool and harden. Pour a caramel layer over each square (as much as you would like, I had about 1/2 cup left over that I saved for another use). Place a few pretzel pieces and a couple of marshmallows in each square, pushing them down gently into the caramel a bit, then repeat the quick-cool freezer process. Melt remaining chocolate and drizzle over each square. Chill until completely set, pop out the squares and serve.

If using an 8×8 pan: Line your pan with parchment paper. Coat the bottom of your pan with the melted chocolate, using a spatula to swirl chocolate around to cover the bottom fully. Scatter broken pretzels pieces over top each of the chocolate. Place pan in your freezer for 10 minutes to allow it to quickly cool and harden. Pour the caramel layer over top then scatter some additional pretzel pieces and mini marshmallows over top, pushing them down gently into the caramel a bit, then repeat the quick-cool freezer process. Melt remaining chocolate and drizzle over top. Chill until completely set. Cut into squares. For the pan method, you may want to use a bit more broken pretzel pieces and mini marshmallows, since there is more room.

Caramel recipe from Annie’s Eats.

Note: I made 2 batches of this. One with the caramel in this recipe and one with my standard caramel. I found that my standard caramel began to lose its form a bit when allowed to stay at room temperature. See the related blog post for my standard caramel. If you use the standard caramel, I suggest you keep the candy in the refrigerator.