I was fortunate enough to represent my Pastry School- The Institute of Culinary Education on a recent episode of Epicurious.com 4 Levels of Brownies: Amateur to Food Scientist How do you like your brownies? Gooey? Cakey? We challenged chefs of three different levels – an amateur, a home cook and a professional chef – to make their versions of the brownie. And then we brought in a food scientist to review their work. Which brownie was the best?

Rosemary Trout Director of Culinary Arts and Food Science at Drexel University
In this video I was pitted againt two other chefs, who I thought did I great job…and I would have loved to try their creations. How do you like your brownies? Gooey? Cakey? We challenged chefs of three different levels – an amateur, a home cook and a professional chef – to make their versions of the brownie. And then we brought in a food scientist to review their work. Which brownie was the best?
Here’s my recipe if you want to give it a try: Bourbon Salted Caramel Brownies Makes one 13x 9-inch pan of brownies Caramel 1 pound granulated sugar 8 ounces of unsalted butter; cut into small ¼-inch squares. (Plugra or Kerry gold) Just needs to be pure butter (no oil added) 1 tsp. flaky sea salt (fleur de sel) 6 ounces heavy cream 4 ounces, good quality Bourbon Brownie 8 ounces unsalted butter 8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate -I prefer pistols (i.e. discs)- But choc. chips are fine too…just a good brand! 4 large eggs ½ teaspoon salt 8 ounces granulated sugar 8 ounces dark brown sugar ½ fluid ounce vanilla extract 4 ounces all-purpose flour Cooking spray (or can use extra butter) EQUIPMENT NEEDED: 13 x 9 x 2-inch high pan ONE cast-iron sauce pan (medium or large) Heat-proof bowl Parchment paper Whisk Large wooden spoon Rubber spatulas Off-set spatula Scale (for measuring ingredients) First make the caramels:
- Line a 13 x 9-inch pan with parchment paper, lightly buttered.
- In a medium saucepan (make sure it is completely dry) over medium-high heat, melt the sugar. Use a spatula to break up any large chunks of sugar but then stop stirring and let the sugar melt on its own, undisturbed. Takes about 8-10 minutes.
- Once all the sugar is melted, and it has reached a deep amber color remove from the heat.
- Gradually whisk in the butter until it is dissolved.
- Stir in the cream, bourbon and salt. Return the pan to the stove to incorporate all of the ingredients and to a low simmer to make sure all the sugar crystals have dissolved completely. Once the caramel bubbles slightly and reaches a dark amber color remove from the stove.
- Pour the caramel into the parchment lined sheet tray and transfer the tray into a freezer. Freeze for at least one hour. Depending on the humidity in your freezer you may need more or less time for the caramels to solidify.
Make the brownies:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 13 x 9x 2-inch pan with two pieces of over lapping parchment paper, make sure the parchment continues up the sides of the pan. Butter the parchment (you can also use non-stick spray if easier)
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil and turn off heat. Combine butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set over the pan of water, stirring occasionally until completely melted. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer combine the sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Gradually add the eggs, scraping the sides after each addition. Add the vanilla.
- Stir in chocolate butter mixture until combine.
- Add in flour, be careful not to over-mix.
- Pour ¾ of the batter into prepared pan.
- Pull-out tray of caramels from the freezer and either cut into 1-inch squares or if caramel is still soft, use a 1-inch ball scooper and scoop balls of caramel onto a tray.
- Drop ¾ of the caramels through-out the batter. Pour the remaining batter over the caramels. Scatter the remaining caramels on top.
- Bake in the middle rack of the oven for about 45 min.
To cut brownies, once they have cooled to room temp- stick in the freezer for 30 min or until firm. This will allow you to cut the brownies into perfect squares. Add ice cream or whipped cream for a delicious and cool topping to the warm brownie, drizzle with extra caramel.
Your brownies look great! Do you have a non-caramel version for people who don’t like that flavor?
Absolutely, I have a plain chocolate one in my second cookbook, Confetti Cakes for Kids…
Hi Elisa, thanks for sharing your recipe. Your brownies look amazing.
I have a question: what do you think about replacing the bourbon with cognac? I have this at home and I thought it might be the same, but wanted to ask your opinion.
Thanks!
It is really just a hint of the flavor…cognac could be fine. I would be more inclined to use Rum if you have that.
Hey Elisa, your brownies look divine! Do you smell the alcohol in the finished brownie?
Not at all- it mostly evaporates while being cooked and baked so it is just a hint. If you REALLY want a boozy flavor you would have to “soak” in the alcohol similar to a rum cake…I would let my kids eat these!
How many brownies does this recipe make?
Hi It depends how big you are making them….if you are cutting 2-inch squares then you’d get about 40
I made these today and they are divine! They are very rich and moist and there’s enough to feed a whole village. I used rum instead of bourbon and that worked great. I didn’t use all of the caramel though. It was simply too much. I will definitely make these again. Thank you very much for the recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it! You can always re0freeze the caramels and have them just as candy or use it as a sauce for ice cream!
Alisa I love your work so much, thanks alot!
Thank you so much!
Hi Elisa, how many ingredients precisely I will get in? I think in grams or mililiters or cups?
Sorry, I’m not sure what you are asking. How many brownies will you get or did you need the recipe converted?
Sory I need how many flour, sugar, butter, and chocolate in grams please. I need converte ingredients to grams please.
Sory again I dont read the full recipe. I’m so sory I dont need anything. Sory
Do you think using almond extract instead of vanilla would taste okay?
I haven’t tried it in brownies but I do love the flavor of Almond.
Hey Elisa
i have made the brownies twice now together with my sister and everyone absolutly loves them. 1 question thoe every time we do it we only use like half of the carmel. Do you usually use all of it or are you often left with some?
Hi Elisa,
Did you put a water before the sugar to make the caramel? Or just a sugar? Thanks
No it is called a “dry” caramel so there is no water added
I am struggling to make the bourbon caramel because the bourbon doesn’t cook out. How do you get out the alcohol content?
Yes, it does cook out. It really just leaves a hint of the flavor. BUT if you really don’t want it you can just replace with Vanilla extract…or just leave it out altogether. it will not change the consistency since it burns off!
After seeing you bake these in the Youtube video, I just had to try for myself. I just made these and they turned out AMAZING!
I did make a couple of modifications though:
– Made a half portion of caramel and still ended up using only half of that.
– Had to mix a bit of salted butter (ran out of regular) but omitted the salt from the recipe. Still tastes perfect.
– Used semi-sweet chocolate chips but halved the white and brown sugar.
– Didn’t wait for the caramel to solidify completely. It melted into the middle of the brownie and turned out so tasty.
– Used 1.5oz of white rum instead of Bourbon because I didn’t have any Bourbon and didn’t want to buy a bottle just for the recipe. Not enough flavour in my opinion. Needed at least another shot.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My roommates and friends loved them.
Thank you for all these great suggestions- I’m glad you enjoyed the brownies!
I might have done this wrong with the Carmel. It was almost a dark molasses color rather than a amber color. An ideas where I might have gone wrong?
Hello! It sounds like you just went a little too long in cooking the sugar. As soon as the caramel starts turning a golden brown color remove from the heat- it will keep cooking due to residual heat. Did you happen to use a candy thermometer? That can also help!
Hi Elisa
Your caramel looks great however is there a good alternative for the bourbon that is non alcoholic I could use instead of bourbon
Hi Billy- Yes, I mention below you can use Vanilla Extract (or really any flavor you want to replace with the bourbon)
Hello from the UK 🙂
I’m 36, never baked a single thing in my entire life (honestly). Until I saw you make your brownies on Epicurious (randomly on YouTube!). They looked so good it actually spurred me into the kitchen to give it a go… Glad I found the real deal here when trying to search for the bourbon salted caramel recipe!!! Thanks for the inspiration, Elisa 😉
Thanks so much for writing Jon! Happy Baking!
Can I use an electric whisk or wooden spoon instead of a free standing mixer?
Absolutely- the mixer just makes it easier, quicker. You will just need a little elbow grease. I’ve made them without a mixer before- just make sure to get all the bits of flour mixed in!
Thank you for making the recipe available, your brownies looked amazing in the youtube video!
As soon as I get the measurements converted to gram I am ready to try myself 🙂 would you round up or down for the measurements?
Hi Kirsten: Thanks for writing- the great thing with grams is that the increments are so so small-I can’t imagine you should have a problem. If you find yourself in trouble I would just make sure to do the SAME (up or down) with ALL the measurements! I hope this helps!
Hi Elisa 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! My kids and I are caramel fiends!!
Would this still work in a fan forced oven? Unfortunately my oven has no ‘off’ option for the fan.
Thanks
So great! I wouldn’t worry too much about the oven- brownies are not that fragile. If it is a true convection oven I usually decrease the temp by 50 degrees. So you would bake the brownies at 300 F instead of 350 F.
Hi Elisa,
Could you use regular milk or almond milk nstead of cream for the caramel?
Thanks
Hi Josh- I just responded via email to your question but the short answer is YES!
Elisa,
What temp do you heat your caramel to? In the video it sounded like you said 160 (I’m assuming Celsius) but that seems low based on the color.
Hmmm, I don’t remember saying a specific temp but described the process. You are right I usually heat to a higher temp- closer to 245 celsius.
We watched the Epicurious 4 Levels brownies episode and I decided to make these. I halved the recipe and totally regretted it! This has become our absolute favorite brownie recipe hands down. I accidentally burned the caramel slightly but we actually really liked it that way. It came out tasting like coffee! One thing though, is the recipe made way more caramel than was necessary. So I made some homemade ice cream and swirled it in at the end and wow what a combination of caramel brownies with burnt caramel vanilla ice cream. Thanks for a fantastic recipe! I just picked up a couple used copies of your books and look forward to trying out more of your recipes.
Thanks so much Amanda (So sorry I am just getting back to you now- your moment went to junk!) Glad I found it!
Sounds like you made great choices. Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the recipes!
Hey elisa
Tried the recipe turned out amazing, but what didn’t work out with me is the caramel, tried it with vanilla and the taste came out really bitter, should I use the same amount as the bourbon, or reduce the amount of the vanilla, and one more thing the caramel temp you mentioned in the comments that it should reach 245°c, but also it came out really dark an burnt, I would appreciate if you could make it clear on how much vanilla should I use next time, and what is the right temperature should the caramel reach.
Hi! You should be trying to get it to 350 degrees F. It should take about 10 minutes to get there but as soon as it does take the sugar off the burner as it will continue to cook. Add the cream and just a teaspoon of vanilla. It should not taste bitter…..I hope that helps!
Hi Elisa, I just did this in a small electric oven and the surface layer burned after 20 minutes, I separated that layer, then I put the 350F to 300F oven the remaining 25 minutes, took them outside to cool, then I put them in the freezer for 30 minutes and then left them in the refrigerator; Now I tried to cut them but I found that almost 2/3 from bottom to top are way too sticky, I think they are missing cooking, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I don’t think they have a fix, should I change to a conventional oven?
Hi Enrique: I’m so sorry for all of your trouble. It is so hard to trouble shoot from far away. It sounds like either the oven or perhaps the placement in the oven was not great. I hope you have better success next time.