Chocolate Caramel Brownies

The first time I made these brownies was for our house-warming party back in August. Very good. Here's what the reviewers said:
"A piece of heaven." - Jon Felt
"Very gooey heaven." - Jeff Brown
"Like 'Knock-You Naked Brownies.'" - Cami Felt

I made them again recently when I was waiting for Jeff to come back from another interview. And since a friend wants the recipe, I thought I'd revive the cooking blog.

(The photo, as you can see, is courtesy of creativelydomestic.com, where there was a nearly identical recipe. I hadn't taken my own picture, so I borrowed it.)

This recipe is from the "Ivy Bake Shoppe" cookbook, my go-to book for super-rich desserts. The recipe is super easy, though you need to buy some ingredients ahead of time. You also need to play ahead a bit, because it does need several hours of cooling before the brownies solidify enough to cut and hold their shape.

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Ingredients:
1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chopped pecans

Caramel Layer:
1 (14-oz) bag caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix cake mix, butter, evaporated milk, and pecans together. Spread two-thirds of the dough mixture in a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes.
For the caramel layer, melt caramels with evaporated milk in microwave for 3 minutes. Stir and then microwave 1 minute more; stir until smooth. Pour mixture over baked batter and then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Dot with remaining dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes; set on a rack to cool. Cover and cool 6 hours before serving. Makes 12 to 15 servings.