Salted Dulce de Leche Brownies Recipe

A recipe from Serious Eats for salted dulce de leche brownies employs an unconventional technique to achieve a fudgy result while preventing the caramel topping from disappearing into the batter. The recipe creator calls it their absolute favorite, warning that the combination of fudgy brownie, thick dulce de leche, and sea salt is dangerously addictive.

An Unconventional Mixing Method

Traditional fudgy brownie recipes typically begin by melting butter and chocolate together. This recipe deliberately avoids that method. Instead, it starts by creaming softened butter with sugar, a technique more common in cake baking. The creator acknowledges this "cake method" is dreaded by fudgy brownie enthusiasts but insists it is essential here.

The thicker, sturdier batter produced by creaming prevents the dollops of dulce de leche from sinking to the bottom during baking. The creator reports that using the traditional melting method resulted in the dulce de leche sinking and the brownie tops turning rock hard.

A Purposeful Ingredient List

The recipe also makes unusual ingredient choices to build flavor and texture. It uses Dutch-processed cocoa powder instead of bar chocolate, a preference the creator attributes to its pantry-stable convenience. An extra half-stick of butter compensates for the missing cocoa butter.

Three different sweeteners are used, each with a specific role. Granulated sugar provides base sweetness. Light brown sugar adds moisture and intensifies the chocolate flavor with a hint of butterscotch. Corn syrup, a liquid sweetener, is credited as a secret ingredient that ensures the final texture is irresistibly soft and fudgy despite the creaming method. The corn syrup makes the brownies super fudgy, while the light brown sugar intensifies the chocolate flavor.

The Dulce de Leche Topping

The topping consists of homemade or store-bought dulce de leche, generously dolloped and swirled into the top layer of the batter before baking. The creator strongly recommends homemade dulce de leche made from a can of sweetened condensed milk, advising a cook time of no longer than two hours to prevent it from becoming too dark during baking.

Halfway through baking, the pan is removed to be sprinkled with flaky sea salt, which "wakes the whole thing up," before returning to the oven to finish.

Recipe Ingredients and Equipment

The recipe requires specific ingredients and tools to execute the described method successfully.

Special equipment includes an electric mixer and a 9-by-9-inch brownie pan. The batter is baked, then must cool for about four hours before serving. The creator suggests making two cans of dulce de leche, as it is hard to resist and keeps for months unopened.