My mom recently told me about some peanut butter brownies she’d had at a restaurant in Florida, and demanded I make them for her. I told her that was basic AF, and that I would make something better. And then I did it. Initially I thought I’d make caramel and mix it into the brownie batter, but I decided that’d be too sweet, so I opted for dulce de leche. I told my mom I’d make her peanut butter whipped cream to go with it, but it was just a lie to get her on board. In the end, she agreed that they absolutely didn’t need it.
How can I describe these brownies? The brownie part is just your classic chewy kinda not-all-the-way-cooked-seeming fudgy delight. The dulce de leche, when it’s baked for the second time, in the brownie batter itself, becomes almost cake-like. The mixture isn’t super sweet, but it is extremely rich, so a glass of milk or some peanut-less whipped cream is definitely essential. Get to it, people.
Butter Count: 10 Tbsp
DULCE DE LECHE:
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425F.
Pour the contents sweetened condensed milk into a metal cake pan with high sides. Cover the cake pan tightly with foil. Place the cake pan in a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with water so that it is half-way submerged.
Bake the milk between 45 and 90 minutes (I know its a big range, but just check on it at 45 minutes, and if it hasn’t darkened at all then go for the full 90. If it’s slightly browned, go another 10 minutes. Keep baking until the milk is thick or chunky (ignore clumps)).
NOTE: Check the water level every so often. Make sure that there is always water in the roasting pan.
Remove the cake pan from the roasting pan and let it cool at room temp, uncovered.
BROWNIES:
1 cup Guinness Stout
10 Tbsp butter, room temp
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temp
3/4 cup flour
Butter a baking pan (I think mine was 8”x11”? But it doesn’t matter really, just make sure it’s not like lasagna-sized) and line it with parchment paper so that it hangs over the sides of the pan. Butter the parchment paper as well.
In a small pot or saucepan, boil the Guinness until it has reduced by half (you can use a toothpick to measure the initial height of the Guinness in the pot, and then continue to boil until the liquid comes halfway up the initial height marked on the toothpick).
NOTE: Don’t stir the Guinness or it will boil up uncontrollably.
Continuing to boil, add the butter and stir it around with a spoon (not a whisk, to reduce bubbling) until fully melted. Add the sugar and whisk (using a whisk this time) until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is thickened. Whisk in the cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon, and remove the pot from the heat. Set the pot aside until the mixture is only slightly warm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Whisk in the vanilla extract and the eggs. Slowly add the flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking in each addition until fully incorporated.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan, scraping it all out with a rubber spatula.
Add soup spoon-sized dollops of the prepared dulce de leche and swirl it around with a toothpick.
Bake 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover the baking sheet with foil so that the foil does not touch the surface of the brownies.
Leave at room temp overnight. The next day, lift the parchment paper out of the baking dish and cut the brownie into 6 large or 8 small brownies (you may have to wash off the knife after each slice because the dulce de leche will stick to it). Enjoy with some cold milk!