Salted Caramel Brownie Cups

Brownies are absolutely delicious but experimenting to find new ways to enjoy them is even better.

This recipe combines a rich chocolate brownie cup, filled with a chewy salted caramel core, topped with a whip of silky smooth chocolate buttercream and a pinch of sea salt.

Are you a classic brownie or versatile brownie kinda person? If you said versatile, we’re meant to be friends- Haha!
I love switching things up here on The Little Blog Of Vegan, and making desserts which satisfy my sweet tooth, if you couldn’t tell already.
Chocolate and caramel are one of the best pairings in desserts, in my own humble opinion. The bitter chocolate paired with the sweet caramel… oooh its just divine!

Why I love this recipe:

Rich
Chocolaty
Perfectly sweet
Easy to make
Versatile

These salted caramel brownie cups are one of the easiest, yet most scrumptious desserts you will ever make.

The brownie is crisp on the outside with a chewy middle. The addition of the ultra gooey, chewy salted caramel, chocolate drizzle and pinch of sea salt take this dessert from yummy to ‘out of this world’ DELICIOUS.

All you need to do is whip up my simple brownie batter, press it into a cookie cup tin, bake and voila…perfect brownie cups each time. You can fill them with whatever you like- ice cream, ganache, fruit etc. I went for caramel as it’s my all-time favourite!

If you LOVE brownies, check out my other brownie recipes:

Raspberry Brownie Hearts

Caramel Brownie Cheesecake

Vegan Brownie Cookies

Vegan Crinkle Brownies

Notes*

What cream to use?

When it comes to adding cream into caramel any cream works great. My favourite includes coconut cream, Elmlea Pant Based cream Alternative and Alpro Vegan Single Cream.

Baking time: 30 minutes

Level: Medium

Serves: 6

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Ingredients for the brownie cup

3 tablespoons of flaxseed + 6 tablespoons of water
100g of dairy-free butter/margarine
120g of caster sugar
60g of cocoa powder
100g of self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Ingredients for the salted caramel core

65g of dairy-free butter/margarine
65g of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar
180g of vegan condensed milk (I use Natures Charm)
1 tablespoon of vegan cream ( see notes*)
2 tablespoons of cornflour
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Ingredients for the salted caramel swirl

120g of dairy-free butter
3 tablespoons of dairy-free cream
80g of dairy-free dark chocolate
150g of icing sugar
20g of cocoa powder

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Method (brownie)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees c fan, and grease the inside of loose base cookie cup tins with dairy-free butter.

2. Make the flax eggs.
Add 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed into a small bowl and add in 6 tablespoons of water. Stir to combine then set aside to thicken. This will take around 10 minutes.

3. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter/margarine, sugar and flax egg. Whisk to combine until pale in colour.

4. Add in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder. Mix until a thick brownie batter.

5. Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons worth of batter into each cookie cup tin making sure to get it as flat as possible.

Smooth out using the back of a spoon or your fingertips.

TIP: This mixture is very sticky, so if it makes it easier, dip your finger tips in cocoa powder and press down the batter this way.

6. Place into the oven and bake for around 30 minutes. You will know they’re baked when you put a skewer or toothpick down the centre and it comes out ‘just’ clean. Too clean shows that it’s overbaked. Too wet with dough shows that it’s underbaked.

7. When the brownie cups are ready, remove them from the oven and whilst they’re still warm, using the end of a wooden spoon or anything of a similar size, make a thumbprint sized hole in the center of each cup. This is where the filling will go.

Allow the brownies to cool fully before filling.

Method (salted caramel core)

1. Place the dairy-free butter, sugars and condensed milk in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan. Put the cornflour in a small bowl and add the cream, whisking until you have a thick paste. Add the paste into the pan and mix well to combine.

2. Heat the caramel on low / medium, stirring all the time until it hits a rapid boil. Allow the caramel to come up to 116°C or firm ball stage on a sugar thermometer (if you drop a little mixture into ice-cold water it should form a firm nonsticky ball in your fingers). Leave to cool for a few minutes to thicken.

3. Pour the caramel equally into each brownie cup. Set aside.

TIP: You want to work fast with the caramel as when it cools, it will go very thick and gooey.

Any left over can be used as a drizzle on top of stored in a sealed container in the fridge.

Method (chocolate buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment. A hand mixer will work great too.

2. Melt the dairy-free chocolate and dairy-free cream together in a bain-marie and allow to cool slightly.

3. Sift in the cocoa powder and icing sugar and whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.

4. Whip in the cooled down melted chocolate. This buttercream should be silky smooth.

If it’s too runny/wet, add more icing sugar, if it’s too thick, add chunks of butter in at a time until it’s the right texture.

5. Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle. Pipe a swirl on top of each brownie cup. Repeat for all.

Decorate with a drizzle of any leftover caramel sauce and a pinch of sea salt (optional).

To store:

Store these brownie cups in the fridge and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Best enjoyed within 3 days of making.