Skillet Caramel Brownies are a decadent dessert of rich chocolate brownies and a center layer of gooey caramel. This delicious recipe tastes amazing satisfying all those sweet cravings and are no ordinary baked brownies.
Need more recipes for your dessert cuisine menu? For brownies try our Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie or if it’s caramel you’re after try our Caramel Apple Dump Cake.
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Why we love Skillet Caramel Brownies
If ‘because it’s brownies and caramel’ isn’t a sufficient reason, these caramel brownies are a family favorite, no, a beloved family recipe.
It’s extra special because my grandma used to make these for the family and it was something we all looked forward to.
This isn’t your average boxed brownie mix recipe. Her brownie recipe starts with a German chocolate cake mix, adds evaporated milk, melted butter, and chopped walnuts.
The chopped walnuts give the brownies a bit of a crunchy texture. In the center of the brownies lies a luscious layer of caramel sauce.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cake Mix — use your favorite brand of German chocolate cake mix.
- Caramel — you can use either chewy caramel candies like Kraft caramels, those individually wrapped squares, or caramel bits.
- Pantry Staples — evaporated milk, semi sweet chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts.
- Butter — we recommend using salted butter for greasing the pan and unsalted for the batter, but either will work
How to make Caramel Brownies
Step 1 — Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch skillet with the softened butter.
Step 2 — Add the dry cake mix, 1 cup of evaporated milk, melted butter, and the walnuts to a medium size bowl.
Step 3 — Mix everything together. The batter will be thick and kind of coarse looking.
Step 4 — Add half the batter to the prepared skillet, smooth it out evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 5— While the brownies are baking, in a medium sauce pan melt the caramels while mixing in ⅓ cup evaporated milk. Stir until well combined creating a thickened sauce.
Step 6 — After baking for 15 minutes, remove the brownies from the oven.
Step 7 — Evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over the half-baked brownies.
Step 8 — Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the chocolate chips, smoothing it out creating a complete layer.
Step 9 — Spoon the remaining brownie batter on top of the caramel layer in dollops. There’s no need to smooth it out. Bake for 25 minutes. Once done, allow it to completely cool before serving.
Adaptations and variations
- Cake mix — you could use a chocolate cake mix, devil’s food, or even a dark chocolate cake mix.
- Chocolate chips — Swap out the semi-sweet for milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips.
- Salt — For salted caramel, sprinkle a bit of kosher salt or flaky sea salt over the caramel before adding the rest of the brownie batter.
- Caramel drizzle — you’ll have a tablespoon or two of evaporated milk left in the can, so reserve a couple of tablespoons of the caramel sauce when creating that layer. Add the remaining evaporated milk to that leftover caramel to thin it. This will make it perfect for drizzling over the cooked brownies, especially when topped with vanilla ice cream.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely, they are not crucial to the recipe.
Yes!
Yes, use a microwave safe bowl and on medium power, melt the caramels into the evaporated milk, stopping frequently to stir.
Should you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. You can serve them chilled straight from the fridge or sit them out, allowing them to come to room temperature before serving.
Yes, you can. Use a 9x13, 8x8, or 9x9 baking dish. Complete the recipe in the prepared baking dish the same way as you would in the skillet, including greasing it before adding the batter.
Our favorite tools to make Skillet Caramel Brownies!
Stargazer 10 Inch Cast Iron Skillet
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BuzzyWaxx Original Blend - Cast Iron and Carbon Steel Seasoning
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If you tried these Skillet Caramel Brownies or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Skillet Caramel Brownies
Equipment
- 10-inch cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon salted butter softened
- 15.25 oz German chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 11 oz caramels squares or bits
- ⅓ cup evaporated milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch skillet with the softened butter.
- Add the dry cake mix, 1 cup of evaporated milk, melted butter, and the walnuts to a medium size bowl. Mix everything together. The batter will be thick and kind of coarse looking.
- Add half the batter to the prepared skillet, smooth it out evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the brownies are baking, in a medium sauce pan melt the caramels while mixing in ⅓ cup evaporated milk. Stir until everything has combined to create a thickened sauce.
- After baking for 15 minutes, remove the brownies from the oven and evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over the half-baked brownies.
- Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the chocolate chips, smoothing it out creating a complete layer..
- Spoon the remaining brownie batter on top of the caramel layer in dollops. There’s no need to smooth it out.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Once done, allow it to completely cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Julia
This is my favorite brownie recipe! We love to make it for speci occassions and it always comes out incredible!
Janie
I saw caramel and that's all you had for me to make these! And they're brownies too, I'm soo going to bake these!
Sky
First time ever making skillet brownies and I'm hooked! Love this recipe!!
suja md
stunned with adorable caramels, Love this recipe.
Dina and Bruce
We made these when we were out of town at an air b n b and just wanted to use easy to find ingredients. Wow, these were amazing!!
Ben
Man, I haven't tried one of your recipes yet that wasn't amazing. Made these last night, and I'm looking forward to finishing them off when the fam isn't looking. LOL
TAYLER ROSS
I was craving something sweet last night so I made these brownies. OMG were they delicious! Perfectly soft and chewy!
dana
These were so delicious! They didn't last long at all—absolutely devoured, and a handful of people asked for the recipe 🙂
Alphabet
Your pictures, oh man the picture of the brownies, look incredible. I am sooooooooooooo drooling over the pictures!!