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Dulce de Leche Brownies

Dulce de Leche Brownies

The best way to eat dulce de leche might be straight out of the jar, but even that can get a bit boring after a while and it’s nice to take advantage of some of the other options you have with a big, open jar of the milky caramel. You can pair it with fruit, pour it on ice cream or swirl it into a big batch of brownies.

These dulce de leche brownies are very easy to make, given that the only variation between them and standard brownies is the swirl. That swirl, however, adds just enough extra “oomphf” to take these brownies from good to great. The brownies are fudgy and rich, without being too dense or heavy. The caramel adds a little extra moistness, a little extra fudginess to the areas touched by the swirl. The sweetness of the caramel also stands out against the chocolate background, and although I can’t say that you would definitely be able to identify dulce de leche in a blind taste test, you would definitely detect some of its caramel notes.

I like the swirl because it is an easy way to incorporate the dulce de leche into the brownie batter. Some of it sinks slightly during baking, so there is no need to do any more mixing than simply running a knife through the mixture. You could add a little bit more dulce de leche if you want to emphasize its flavor a little more (or have a big sweet tooth), but if you really want to do that I’d suggest making an ice cream sundae with dulce de leche brownies, vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche sauce, as the brownies might be a little bit too fudgy if you are overgenerous with the amount of caramel in the swirl.

Dulce de Leche Brownies
1/2 cup butter, softened
2-oz dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dulce de leche

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir with a fork until very smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisking steadily, pour chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir until smooth. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into the bowl and stir until just combined.
Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and top with dollops of dulce de leche. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the dulce de leche into the brownie batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies set and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out with only a few moist crumbs, not batter, attached.
Cool in the pan completely before slicing and serving, either at room temperature or chilled.
Brownies can be refrigerated, covered, for several days.

Makes 20 brownies (16 large or 25 small brownies).

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18 Comments
  • Lorie
    July 27, 2009

    My husband will LOVE these! He lived in Chile for a few years and they have Manhar (sp?) which is very similar to Dulce de Leche. He loves anything made with it and I have a feeling these will be one of his new favorites!

    Nicole, I have to tell you that I adore your blog. I have over 700 blogs on my Reader and with over 1000 posts a day, I usually just skim through them to find the ones I think I NEED to read. I ALWAYS stop to read yours! ALWAYS!

  • Anh
    July 27, 2009

    If this brownie is not a winner, I will not touch Dulce de Leche ever again!

  • Sally
    July 27, 2009

    Hi Nicole — Where do you purchase your dulce de leche? I have the one that comes in the can from the grocery store and it just doesn’t do it for me. I see that you mentioned “jar”. I am local — in LA. Thanks so much!
    Sally

  • Linda
    July 27, 2009

    I am in the northeast…indeed where do you find dulce de leche?

  • Bill
    July 28, 2009

    This is amazing. Surely, this will be included in one of my favorites. Thanks for the recipe.

  • Maggi
    July 28, 2009

    You can always make Dulce de Leche yourself. Many ways to do it. My favorite is in a crockpot. Just Google it…

  • Tatiana
    July 28, 2009

    I’m from Argentina, so Dulce de Leche can be found everywhere, but when I lived in Sweden, what we would do was buy a can of condensed milk and put the can in boiling water for 3 hours. The whole can, unopened, and on it’s side (if not you are left with the bottom of it turned into dulce and not the top), making sure that the water doesn’t all evaporate. I always found it the easiest, but other recipies can always be googled 🙂

  • Gala
    July 28, 2009

    Yuuuuum! These sound dangerously good, too good.

  • Christine Medifast
    July 28, 2009

    I am a huge brownie fan and these just look so delicious. The recipe is even better. I just wish I could take your brownies right from the screen and into my lap. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Hope mine look just as good.

  • Jelli Bean
    July 28, 2009

    This is a great idea! I bought a 5kilo tub of ddl about a month ago and have used it once. It will go bad soon, so this is the PERFECT way to get rid of some of that gooey caramel deliciousness. Thanks so much!

  • You can never go wrong with brownies, especially when you have chocolate fans in the house. Thanks for sharing this.

  • Suzanne
    September 9, 2009

    Oh!!!! Those sound amazing! And an excuse to make some dulce de leche. 🙂 🙂

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