I had a very vivid and compelling dream a week ago about baking. Not so unusual, I have a lot of dreams and many involve baking. Okay, it’s weird. Still, this one haunted me. I dreamed I was making Abby Dodge‘s Chocolate Chip Brownie Double Deckers (a favorite of mine), but I baked in a layer of salted caramel, a la Baked Brooklyn’s Sweet & Salty Brownie. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.

I didn’t really make any changes, just merged the two recipes. I didn’t use all of the caramel, knowing too much wouldn’t be good. The caramel merged a little with the chocolate chip cookie dough but not so much that it ruined it. These are really good and benefit from some time in the freezer – before cutting into squares and before eating. I asked Larry if they’re my new signature dessert. He says they’re good, but no. Disappointment abounds.

Sweet & Salty Chocolate-Chip Brownie Double Deckers
Makes: 2 dozen bars
Adpated from:
Sweet & Salty Brownies, Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito
Chocolate-Chip Brownie Double Deckers, The Weekend Baker: Irresistible Recipes, Simple Techniques, and Stress-Free Strategies for Busy People by Abigail Johnson Dodge

INGREDIENTS
Caramel:
1 c sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp fleur de sel
1/4 c sour cream

Chocolate Chip Layer:
12 tablespoons (6 oz/170 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (8 oz/227 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cup (6 3/4 oz/191g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (6 oz/170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie Layer:
12 tablespoons (6 oz/170 g) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz/64 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (12 oz/340 g) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (3 1/2 oz/99 g) all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 tsp fleur de sel

INSTRUCTIONS
Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Make the caramel:
In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar and corn syrup with 1/4 c. water, stirring together carefully so you don’€™t splash the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat, until a thermometer reads 350 degrees and is dark amber in color.

Remove from the heat and slowly add the cream (it will bubble up). Then add the fleur de sel. Whisk in the sour cream. Set aside to cool.

Begin the chocolate chip layer:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set the butter mix aside to cool while making the brownie layer.

Make the brownie layer:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Slide the pan from the heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition just until blended. Whisk in the vanilla with the second egg.

Sprinkle the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula. Set it aside while you finish the chocolate chip layer.

Finish the chocolate chip layer:
Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla to it and whisk until blended. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Assemble the bars:
Drizzle 3/4 cup of the caramel sauce (not all of it) over the batter, trying to stay away from the edges. Gently spread the caramel sauce evenly. In heaping spoonfuls, scoop the remaining batter over the caramel layer. Smooth the brownie batter gently over the caramel.Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoops and spread it evenly with an offset or rubber spatula.

Bake until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it, about 40 minutes. Don’t over-bake or the brownies won’t be fudgy. Remove the brownies from the oven and sprinkle with the fleur de sel. Transfer the baking pan to a rack to cool completely.

Once the pan is cool, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes before cutting. Using a bench scraper or a knife, cut the brownies into small squares measuring about 2 inches each. The cooler the double-deckers are, the cleaner the cutting will be, but these fudgy treats will always leave some sticky crumbs on the knife.

COOK’S NOTES:

• Weights are provided to minimize fuss. If you have a kitchen scale, it will make cleanup much easier. I set the saucepan on the scale and add almost all of the ingredients directly into the pan.
• Don’t be tempted to use all of the caramel in these bars. More is not better, and it will cause the chocolate chip layer to become too soft.
• If I have them on hand, I like to use Scharffen Berger Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chunks for the chocolate chip layer. One bag is the perfect amount, and the square chunks of chocolate provide nice blobs of chocolate in the cookie.
• After baking, cooling and cutting into squares, these can be frozen up to 1 month. There’s almost no thawing necessary – about 20 minutes – because these are delicious even when partially frozen.