It’s been one of those weeks (and one of those months! I hate January!) that chocolate wasn’t an option this weekend, and the best option was for these Salted Caramel Pretzel Pecan Brownie Bites. They are cute, delicious and definitely filled the chocolate “void’ for the weekend. I make my brownies from scratch (not out of the box), but in a pinch, you could also do this recipe with a box mix. A very straight forward and simple recipe.
Ingredients
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
15-16 mini pretzels or pretzel rings
15-16 pecan halves
salted caramel sauce (store bought is fine)
Directions
Heat oven to 350F degrees. Make a foil sling for your 13 x 9-inch pan. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add
flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces, toasted pecans and toffee bits, reserving a few to sprinkle on top.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and add in pretzel rings and pecan halves, then return to the oven for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, a total of 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and
cool 30 minutes. Drizzle on salted caramel and let completely cool 3-4 hours.
Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Using a cookie cutter, cut to 2-inch circles (or you can just cut with a knife into 2-inch squares, if you don’t have a cookie cutter). Enjoy!
