Twix Brownies

These brownies from Bake at 350 looked to be darn near perfect, although they have no peanut butter. The layers of goodness intrigued me, so they went on the to-do list for the booyah we're going to tomorrow. My tastes have changed since I was a little girl who turned down Twix because of the cookie bar. I've learned to like a lot more chocolate and candies through the years, although I still can't handle crunch or crisp.

These brownies are amazing! They might be one of my favorite brownies, ever, which is quite the statement. They are worth every bit of work. 

I had never used the caramel bits before, but I'm quite happy to have a partial bag left to play with. I could see these little guys being fun for lots of baking projects.

Twix Brownies
Brownies
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup Dutch-process cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup  flour
17 (store-bought) shortbread cookies
Caramel Layer
1 (11 oz.) bag + 1/3 cup caramel bits
1/4 cup evaporated milk
Ganache
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9x13” pan.

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugars, and heat while stirring until hot to touch, but not bubbling. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in cocoa powder, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Stir in flour.

Spread evenly in prepared pan, and bake for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make caramel. Over medium-low heat, melt caramel bits and evaporated milk together, stirring frequently.

After 25 minutes, remove brownies from oven, and top with the cookies, pressing down slightly. Some brownie will still remain visible. Pour caramel sauce evenly over cookies. Return to oven, and bake for 5 more minutes.

Remove brownies from the oven, place on a wire rack and let cool completely in pan.

Once cooled, make the ganache by heating the cream to a simmer. Pour cream over chocolate chips, and let stand 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, slowly stir chocolate and cream until combined and thickened. Pour over  cooled brownies, using an offset spatula to smooth. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting. (I found they cut best after some time in the freezer to peel off the foil.)

Store brownies in refrigerator. Cut into 24 bars using a sturdy knife with up/down motions.