Sea Salt Caramel Brownies

Prepare the caramel FIRST:

In a small saucepan, combine the cream and the salt. Simmer over very low heat until the salt is dissolved. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup carefully. They will not combine well until the sugar begins to melt. Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350 degrees, about 6 to 8 minutes. Without a thermometer, just pull the sugar off the heat when it is a medium goldish brown. It will continue to cook in the heat of the pan. Better to pull it too early than too late. Remove from the heat and let cool for one minute.

Add the cream mixture and the vanilla to the sugar mixture. Whisk in the sour cream. Let the caramel cool to room temperature, then follow the brownie instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate any leftover caramel. It makes a great ice cream topping or tastes great straight out of the jar.

Now prepare the brownies. For Tasty Kitchen, I suggest using a box mix, but you could substitute in your favorite plain brownie recipe.

For the brownies:

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine the box mix with eggs, melted butter, and water.

In a greased 8×8 pan, pour a little over half of the brownie batter and bake for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour in the caramel. On top of the caramel, add the rest of your brownie batter. If it doesn’t pour smoothly, just plop it in and swirl it around a little bit. Return to the oven and bake for another 18-22 minutes. Brownies will still appear a little shaky, due to the caramel, but they will firm up once cooled. Do not overbake.

Enjoy with a nice glass of milk, or better yet, ice cream!