Sea Salt Caramel Brownies

It was a pretty dreary day in New York. Gray, windy and wet, the city trudged on, refusing (or at least pretending to refuse) to let the weather get it down.

I, on the other hand, succumbed. I've been pretty busy with a new job in the marketing field (my own office! Mac desktop!) as well as with my other job serving at the Noho Star and haven't made myself a priority. I hit a pretty hard wall of sheer exhaustion and lethargy, and decided that I'd take the afternoon off.

While my original plan was to lay in bed snuggling a body pillow, I came across a picture of a sea salt caramel brownie. My mouth watered and the belly quivered (as most sexual organs do). And I said to myself, "This. I want this".

15 ingredients later and a masterpiece of weight-gaining proportions was completed. I enjoyed mine with a cup of coffee, and then parceled a few in wax paper to give to my roommates and neighbors as gifts. Because nothing says 'thank you' like chocolate and caramel!

Before going into the oven:

Sea Salt Caramel Brownies

You need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (of good quality if possible!)
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 can boiled condensed milk (recipe to soon follow)

You will:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square pan and line with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder, walnuts and chopped chocolate. Be careful as to not over-stir!
3. Spread half of the batter into prepared pan.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of your boiled condensed milk over the batter. Pour 1 tsp of sea salt in your hands and sprinkle over mix.
5. Pour in the rest of the brownie batter. Add another 1/4 cup of boiled condensed milk to the top and swirl. Add more sea salt in the same way as before.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not overcook; they will look undercooked when removed from the oven, but will cool to perfect consistency.