Ultimate Salted Caramel Brownies!

It's April! Spring is here (or I guess it's been here for a couple of weeks now to be more specific). I'm so excited because this year the caveman and I have decided to grow a herb and veggie garden! For the longest time, I'm like gardening is for when people retire and need something to do. Why would you ever want to garden?? Uh because its awesome! It's like having a farmer's market in your own backyard whenever you want! I started a mini herb collection last year towards the end of summer and it was surprisingly fulfilling seeing those little green guys grow and it was ever so delicious when I got to use them in dishes. Fresh is the best! So this year since I have a bit more free time on my hands, I decided to venture out. We got a few plants from friends and some we started from seeds, those were like our little pride and joy because to be honest, didn't think they would come up but they did! We just transferred some of the plants into bigger planters so we'll see how they'll do when the time comes. So far we have a variety of heirloom tomatoes, pepper plants, herbs and little Yukon gold potatoes. Yup potatoes....because we had a few that were starting to root on us so why not throw some dirt on it and make more?! Of course only downside to this whole gardening thing is the wait... but I think the end products will totally be worth it!
 

Now onto a different note, brownies! Soft gooey, chocolatey, rich, warm brownies... now I bet you want some too. No worries, I've got you covered, here's a nice and quick pain free recipe. Throw everything into a mixing bowl, mix and bake. Sounds just like the box brownie mix method doesn't it? I thought so too when I realized everything eventually ended up together. I was somewhat fooled with the multi-steps in the recipe I adopted this from so my end result was a couple more dishes to wash. Oh well. 

I had to up the game a little by adding in chips, coffee, caramel and what not but feel free to skip all that if you want and you'll still get some pretty amazing brownies. Good bye to lazy box brownies and hello to 'gourmet' homemade brownies that are just as lazy. Win!

Ultimate Salted Caramel Brownies
adapted from Best Brownies @ All Recipes.com
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 tsp instant espresso/coffee syrup
• 1/4 cup of salted caramel sauce or Torani Caramel Sauce if you're feeling lazy
• salted caramel candy pieces (optional: sooo bad but sooo good)

Procedures:

1. Melt butter over stove in a stainless steel pot (about 4-6 quart because this will be your mixing bowl). Remove from heat, whisk in sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well mixed.  
2. Stir in cocoa powder, flour, salt, instant espresso, and baking soda until you get a smooth batter, add in chocolate chips. 
3. Pour 1/2  the batter into a sprayed or oiled baking dish. Drizzle half the caramel sauce into the batter (toss in caramel candies) and pour the remaining brownie batter on top, drizzle with rest of the caramel sauce. 
4. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let brownies set a little, then enjoy!