Super chewy double chocolate brownies swirled with the most decadent and easy to make salted caramel. The secret is, these are boxed brownies but I have the tips and tricks for how to make box brownies taste better! Your family will think you made homemade brownies, they even have the crinkly top.
This recipe was first published May 30, 2018.
When you serve up a batch of these to your family, everyone will think these are homemade brownies! Thanks to a few smart tricks you can turn a boring box brownie mix into something special.
So if you want to tell everyone you made these fudgy brownies from scratch, your secret is safe with me.
Now what's that secret to better box brownies? Hot water, chocolate chips and caramel sauce. That's what makes them taste better!
Chocolate and caramel always go well together like in this salted caramel chocolate cheesecake.
Subbing out room temperature water for super hot water does something magical to the batter. And the addition of the caramel sauce, need I say more? It makes them super chewy, gooey and decadent.
I love how these brownies have the crinkled top, the crisp light airy layer we all know and love and hope our brownies have.
Jump to:
Which Boxed Brownie Is The Best?
After trying tons of boxed brownie mixes, I've found that the Pillsbury chocolate fudge brownie mix has an overall good flavor and texture.
It seems to be a pretty popular choice all around from people. And I think it is readily available in most supermarkets. If you have a favorite yourself, they by all means use that one!
If you add some pecans you could make these into a copycat for those fairy tale brownies, the turtle ones. I love getting those in the mail!
How To Make Boxed Brownies Taste Better
Here are my best tips for making boxed brownies taste better.
Hot water. First is to replace the water in the recipe with steaming hot water. The hot water works like a dream!
Chocolate chips. Adding chocolate chips gives the brownies even more chocolate taste.
Butter. Last is the addition of butter along with the oil that already we will be adding. Adding butter to box brownies gives them a homemade taste. But since we are putting a homemade caramel sauce in the brownies you don't need to substitute the oil for butter. The butter in the caramel sauce is all the butter necessary.
The Caramel Sauce
The caramel is from scratch and you just can't go wrong that way because it's beyond easy to make and takes minutes. It's the same method I use to make the caramel for these pecan sticky buns.
If you're wondering how to make box brownies chewy, this is it it! The caramel sauce makes them so chewy.
When you add caramel to brownies it can be confusing when exactly they are done, it's not like your toothpick will come out clean. I have found that baking them the allotted time and checking for an internal temperature of 180 degrees is perfect.
It's also necessary to let the brownies cool once they are out of the oven. If you try to cut into them right away it will be a gooey mess. Give the brownies 2 whole hours to cool, and in this time they will set up.
How To Make Fudgy Caramel Box Brownies
To make it easy to remove the brownies from your pan, line a square baking pan with parchment paper. This way you can just lift them out, no sticking! Especially since these have caramel in them.
You'll mix up your brownie batter and the caramel sauce separately.
Pour ¾ of the brownie batter into the parchment lined square pan, then pour in all of the caramel sauce. End with the rest of the brownie batter on top.
You could even use a knife or toothpick to make some swirl designs in your batter before baking.
Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees with an internal temperature of 180 degrees.
The caramel sauce can be confusing if you are just using a toothpick to check for doneness because the toothpick will not come out clean. So you'll want to use a kitchen thermometer.
Take them out of the oven and let them rest. Resting the brownies is such an important step because if you cut into them too quickly they will ooze out everywhere. Two hours to cool at the very minimum but after many tests I've found that 6 hours resting gives the best texture!
FAQ
Brownies should cool for at least 2 hours, if you cut in to them too early before they have fully set then they will just fall apart. The batter will still be too soft. They need to come closer to room temperature before they are ready to serve. Cooling for half the day, 6 hours yields a really perfect texture.
You can, just skip the part where you make the caramel yourself.
The Pilsbury chocolate fudge brownie mix, I've found to be a really good one.
It's a lot easier to get the crinkle on the top of brownies when using a box mix of brownies.
More Dessert Recipes
- Triple Chocolate Hot Cocoa Cookie Bars
- Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars
- Salted Caramel Cheesecake Chocolate Cake
- Rocky Road Cookie Bars
- Oreo Funfetti Cookies
- S'mores Cookie Bars
How To Make Box Brownies Taste Homemade (Chocolate Caramel Brownie Recipe)
Super chewy double chocolate brownies swirled with the most decadent and easy to make salted caramel. The secret is, these are boxed brownies but I have the tips and tricks for how to make box brownies taste better! Your family will think you made them from scratch, they even have the crinkly top.
Ingredients
- 1 box Pillsbury chocolate fudge brownie mix
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ c canola oil
- ¼ c hot water
- ½ c chocolate chips
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ c half and half
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Line a square baking pan with parchment paper
- In a bowl mix together the brownie mix, eggs, oil and hot water
- Add the chocolate chips, mix
- Heat a small saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, brown sugar, half and half, vanilla and salt
- Bring to a bubble, whisking for 5 minutes (turn the heat down if its boiling too rapidly)
- Add the baking soda, it will foam up
- Turn the heat down to low and whisk
- Pour ¾ of the brownie batter into the baking pan
- Pour in the caramel, keeping it away from the edges
- Pour the rest of the brownie mixture on top
- Bake for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the brownies reach at least 180 degrees
- Remove from the oven, let the brownies cool for at least 2 hours on a cooling rack before taking out of the pan. I find the best texture is to let them cool 6 hours before cutting in to them, this gives them time to fully set up.
- Cut in to squares and serve!
Notes
These brownies must cool before cutting in to them, they will ooze everywhere if you try right out of the oven. 2 hours is the minimum but 6 hours will give you the best texture and taste.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 279Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 191mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 0gSugar: 19gProtein: 2g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Bonnie
What size pan. And how much Carmel sauce to use
Thanks
Tara Moore
A standard square 8x8.
Kathy
If using premade caramel sauce how much do you use? 1 1/2 cups?
Tara Moore
Hi Bonnie, I would say no more than a half cup of caramel sauce.
Starr
I want to try this recipe,problem is I can’t find it. I search for it and it keeps going back to the article about it. It’s a vicious cycle. Help please. Where can I find it?
Tara Moore
Hi Starr! If you were able to leave a comment, you were on the right page :). There is a recipe box on the page that has all the ingredients and instructions, just above the comment section at the bottom of the page.
Michael
We made these and they turned out so good!! We served them with vanilla ice cream. Thanks for the recipe!
Tara Moore
Thank you!