Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Knock You Naked Brownies


Did you see “Knock You Naked” Brownies when Pioneer Woman posted them on her blog in May? Probably for the first time ever, it wasn’t the picture of the food that piqued my interest, it was the name - Knock You Naked Brownies. Why on earth would anyone name brownies after something that would leave you naked after eating them? (Especially something that certainly wasn’t going to help reduce the measure of your waistline.)  After I scrolled through Pioneer Woman’s pictures and read through the recipe I decided the last thing I wanted was to be caught naked after eating one of these brownies so I moved on… no bookmarks and no pins.

But see, thrs [yes I mean thrs] caramel in there so although these brownies were out of sight…they most definitely were NOT out of mind! Caramel and I get along quite well so naturally, I thought about these brownies a lot. A LOT. I even tried to think about how I could possibly make them healthier….that was a short thought.

Finally, while on vacation this summer with my parents, siblings and our families, I decided it was time to bust these babies out… and of course a single batch wasn’t gonna cut it. Oh no, I had to double it! My justification for such an action went as follows:

ONE) - I have a big family. I need enough of the goodness to be shared.

TWO) - It’s vacation. It’s ok to splurge a little.

THREE) - Since this recipe called for a box mix, which I usually try to steer clear of, I justified that with the vacation excuse too... I didn’t want to go buy a lot of ingredients to make this ONE treat and then have a bunch of leftover foodstuff that I’d have to schlep across the country or throw away.  Box Mix and I made peace for this recipe.


After I returned home from our vacation, I didn’t have any of my handy excuses to justify making these brownies again, so the second time, I was just going to have to own my actions….I made them, because I needed them to live.

And now after having made (and eaten) these twice, I now understand why these are called, “Knock You Naked Brownies”.

It’s cuz…if you make these, you are going to eat so many that you won’t fit into any of your clothes so you, quite literally, will be, “knocked naked”. J

So be warned: If you like caramel and you like chocolate these brownies just may be too much too handle. If you can manage to just eat one of these moist, chocolaty, gooey, drippy, caramely treats you should be prepared for  their deliciousness to, at very least, knock your socks off!

FYI: there are three ways in which these brownies can be made. A single version in a 9x13, a single version in an 8x8 and a double version in a 9x13 (same as the single version in an 8x8- just with less servings)

The pictures you see are of the doubled version in a 9x13 pan however the recipe I’ve included is of the single version in a 9x13 pan. The single version in a 9x13 pan makes for a more fudgy brownie where the caramel really stands out.


Knock You Naked Brownies

1 9x13inch pan of brownies
Ingredients:
1 box (18.5 oz) German Chocolate Cake
1 can (5 oz ) Evaporated Milk (divided)
½ cup Butter, melted
60 whole caramels, unwrapped (14 oz-16 oz-I opted for 16 oz)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.
  3. Press half the mixture into a well-greased square baking pan (9x9 or 8x8). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
  4. In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup (remaining – if using a 5 oz can) evaporated milk.  (For thicker caramel, use more caramel – not less evaporated milk). When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.
  5. Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.
  6. Bake for 20 to 28 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies.
Notes: If you’d like you could add 1 cup of finely chopped pecans to the batter however due to allergies, I skipped that part.


Gwenevere

24 comments:

Erin said...

I love this recipe! I love the name too - My Grandma has been making this recipe since before I was born, so I grew up with it called Caramel Layer Bars. But this name, is so much better!

briarrose said...

Hysterical name. ;) Look at all that drippy caramel....oh yea....that recipe is made of win.

TinaRBK said...

Funny how a recipe can plague your mind until you finally set aside time to make it. I completely understand why this one would be on your mind. Anything oozing of caramel gets my vote-yum!

Trac said...

Gwen, theses pictures are really beautiful. Perfect lighting and everything! MMM, Caramel.

Apron Appeal said...

@Trac- My sister in law let me use her camera. It's so much easier with the right equipment.

@Tina - Now now that I've materialized my thoughts, hopefully I can get them out of my head. There is more to life than carmel and chocolate....right?

@briarrose & Erin - I wonder if search engines will block content due to the name. ;)

Mary said...

What a beautiful photo! I love all that dripping caramel.

Saji said...

Love theseee brownies with the caramel dip
First tym here and happy to follow u

Unknown said...

Just look at those brownies! Is it wrong if I'm already ready to strip? I can't believe how few ingredients their are! Bravo!

Unknown said...

Holy yum!! I am seeing these in my future!

Rivki Locker said...

Well, this post title sure did make me click over! Like you, I wondered why anyone would name a brownie 'knock you naked.' Now I know. And now I have to try these. :)

Anonymous said...

What a fun name and a delicious brownie! My sisters would LOVE these!

Carolyn said...

Love the name of these brownies!!! Wow! I also wanted to answer your question about erythritol...Truvia does contain erythritol (and stevia), but you can also buy it alone. There are a number of different brands, but they aren't widely sold so I often purchase mine from Amazon.com (usually I use ZSweet). It contains stevia too, but it's mostly straight erythritol.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow. That gooey caramel looks so heavenly! I need this, ASAP!

Anonymous said...

WHERE IS MY TASTE????????

Mikaela Cowles said...

I'm down to be naked. Look at those things!

Becki's Whole Life said...

These look wonderful - My only problem would be finding someone to unwrap all of those caramels. Just kidding - this is a great recipe...anything with a caramel filling has to be good:-).

Apron Appeal said...

Becki, while on vacation I made my older brothers do it - payback. When I made these at home, I just used my Peter's caramel brick so I didn't have to unwrap...I must draw the line somewhere.

Sandra said...

:)) Love the name, and you got me laughing so hard..great post and those brownies sure look incredibly tasty :))) Thank you for sharing sweetie, and have one great day!!

Donna Elick said...

These sound amazing!

Gerry @Foodness Gracious said...

Caramel and chocolate, whoa hold me back, naked or not I could easily demolish these. Maybe you get naked by trading your clothing for squares of this naughty nibble??

Brad Kramer said...

Dude, made these. O. MG.

Also, I ate one sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Wow...

Apron Appeal said...

Glad you liked them Brad. I made them, but did not come up with the recipe. I'm not that girl. I'm the type that scrutinizes the rules and then decides what, if anything can be tweaked to suit my needs....I do this with almost all aspects of my life, not just food. :)

Annissa said...

My grandmother made these all the time while I was growing up. She added black walnut to the mix. I always thought they were too rich at the time (or maybe it was the pungent taste of the black walnuts), but they are an everlasting reminder of her. Thanks for the share :) Made me smile seeing these around!

Anonymous said...

I just made these and I'M NOT NAKED D:

A little too much on the sweet side, lose the puddle of caramel. And the clothes.

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