Gooey Turtle Brownie Cups

Foods in my experience can be divided into one of two categories.

Worth Eating.

Not Worth Eating

You know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you take a bite of something and think "this is *not* worth the calories". And if you're being good, you stop eating it. If you're wallowing in sorrow, or just happen to be really starving, maybe you keep eating it.
My goal for this blog is only to post things that really are worth eating.

Now. The original name of these brownies is "Knock you Naked Brownies". Which I kind of find to be a misnomer because they are so rich and gooey and delicious, after eating them you will not want to be naked. Ever. But these are also one of the yummiest things I have *ever* eaten. And I mean that seriously. These are truly *worth* eating. Even during swimsuit season.


Gooey Turtle Brownie Cups
Recipe adapted from Food.com

• 1 box German chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 60 vanilla caramels, unwrapped (or two bags caramel bits- found in the baking section)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil, making sure you have plenty hanging over the handles to be able to pull your brownies out. Grease foil with Pam.

Combine cake mix, pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk and butter, and press half of the batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

Melt caramels, or caramel bits in the microwave with 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Stir every 30 seconds and do not let mixture overheat. When combined, pour caramel over baked layer. Cover evenly with chocolate chips.

Crumble remaining batter over top of the caramel layer and press in slightly. Bake for 18 minutes. Allow to cool until slightly warm. Pull brownies out of pan intact, using foil handles. Pull the foil down from the sides and use a chef's knife to cut your brownies.

The best way to cut bars into pretty squares:
1- Use the longest, sharpest, most giant knife you can find (make sure the blade is flat and not serrated
2-Score your bars evenly so they will come out approximately the same size
3-Cut a single line at a time. After each cut, rinse the knife thoroughly in hot water and dry with a towel. Repeat process.

At this point you can call it good and have a big pan of gooey caramel brownies to yourself.

However, if you're planning to transport these, or serve them somewhere outside your home, where dribbles of caramel and brownies crumbling into your lap is likely not acceptable, you may want to put them in cups. Using a spoon, take each warm brownie and gently press it into a large nut cup/cupcake cup. These are so gooey they will usually assume the shape of the cup. You can stick a fork in each cup for easy eating and serve from a tray. Or if at home, serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Emphasis on the bean part.

Make a date with your treadmill for tomorrow, and enjoy something *worth* eating.