Turtle Brownies

A while back, one of you referred me this fabulous blog called Cookie Madness (thanks, LM!). This woman posts some of the most delicious looking, easy to make goodies! I made these Turtle Brownies for my dad for Father's Day.

Oh. my. word.

Good thing I sent him home with them or I would have eaten the whole pan. In my opinion, the toasted pecans are the only way to go...take the extra 10 minutes to toast them up - you won't be sorry.

Can't wait to make these again....and they'll be mine. All mine.

Turtle Brownies

by Cookie Madness

Brownie Layer:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Caramel-Pecan Layer:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons water

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped, toasted pecans

Garnish:

1-2 ounce semisweet chocolate

sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch square metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Add chocolate, reduce heat to low and stir until melted (I actually did this in the microwave). Cool mixture slightly if hot, and with a wooden spoon, beat in brown sugar, followed by eggs and vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl and with the wooden spoon, beat in the baking powder and salt, making sure they’re evenly distributed. Add the flour and stir gently until it is mixed in.
Spread batter evenly in pan and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Spread the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until aromatic. Let them cool, then chop.
Make caramel-pecan layer: In a heavy medium size saucepan bring sugar, corn syrup, water, and a pinch salt to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil mixture, without stirring, until it turns a golden caramel – mine was golden in about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and carefully add cream and vanilla (mixture will bubble up and steam). Stir in pecans and quickly (it hardens very fast) pour mixture over brownie layer, spreading evenly. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack.

For Garnish: In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring, until smooth and remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat. Transfer chocolate to a freezer bag. Squeeze chocolate into one corner of bag and with a sharp knife (I used scissors) cut a tiny slice off corner to form a small hole. Squeeze chocolate decoratively over brownies. Chill brownies, loosely covered, until caramel is firm, at least 4 hours. Lift from pan by grasping parchment (or foil). Cut brownies into 16 squares, then cut each square into 4 squares. Set squares in regular or miniature size cupcake papers and sprinkle sea salt on top before serving. Makes 64
Note: You may want to put brownies in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting.

My notes: I used an 11 x8 pan rectangle pan, I think. In any event, it wasn't a 9 inch square one...anyone about that size would work fine. I'd recommend toasting the pecans first so that they're ready to go when you're ready to make the caramel topping. I don't think I had my caramel boiling at quite high enough heat - mine took about 4 minutes longer to reach the brown color than the original (she said hers took about 8 minutes). I don't think I got 64 of them, but you can cut them fairly small because they're quite rich. The sea salt adds a nice salty touch to the end (you know...the ol' salt and chocolate thing), though I don't think you'd have to have it for these to be gobbled up.