Dulce de Leche Brownies

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone! Today I am celebrating with these really yummy and scrumptious, moist, chocolately, caramely, and oh so ooey and gooey Dulce de Leche brownies and fish tacos for dinner (I will post that later)! Dulce de Leche is a Mexican caramel and it is very delicious! I got the idea to make these brownies from Dave Lebovitz, although I used my favorite brownie  recipe (The Baked brownie and I halved it) and I didn't make my own Dulce de Leche....but next time I will use Dave's brownie recipe and attempt to make my own Dulce de Leche and I will definetly post how they turn out! I will post both brownie recipes for you because they both have gotten really great reviews. I definetly reccomend giving these a try, they are absoultely yummy!

Here is the Baked Brownie recipe that I used (halved):

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 tablespoon dark unsweetened cocoa powder

-5 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (60-72% cacao), coarsely chopped (I used ghiradelli chocolate chips)

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

-1/2 tespoon instant espresso powder (I omitted this for this recipe)

-3/4 cup granulated sugar

-1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

-2 eggs plus 2 tablespoons egg (I beat 1 egg slightly and measured out 2 tablespoons because 1 egg is equal to 1/4 cup, so you really will need 3 eggs)

-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-13.4 ounce can of Dulce de Leche

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9x9 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate, butter, and instant espresso (if using) in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 2 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaing 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined (do not overbeat.)

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan and drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly.

Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes (start checking their doneness after about 20 minutes), rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies come out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely (if you can wait that long...I couldn't!) and then enjoy!

You can find Dave Lebovitz's Dulce de Leche Brownie recipe here at  http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/06/dulce_de_leche.html