fat brownies

I've been trying a lot of new recipes lately and loving most of them (so expect some more recipe posts in the near future), but here is one I thought I'd jot down (can that be done electronically?) while it's fresh on my brain.  I was excited to see a Dayton shout-out on one of my favorite sites for cooking, Pioneer Woman, when she received some DLM "killer brownies."  Ooo, they are so yummy - chocolate, caramel, chocolate, powdered sugar, chocolate....  Just a bite-sized square is enough to put me in a chocolate coma.  Anyways, she posted a copycat recipe; apparently it's a widely-known one called "knock you naked" brownies.  Ha, I don't know about that - it sounds very awkward.  and sticky.  Regardless, I tried the recipe out and they were pretty amazing.  Maybe like one notch below Dorothy's, but still yummy - and a lot less money and actually very easy to make.  I made them for a family from church and Bran took some to a meeting at church - heard lots of good feedback.  Though if I keep making them for church-y things, I'm going to have to come up with a name that doesn't include "kill" or "naked" in it.  We seem to find ourselves in trouble for things like that here.  So, here's my re-post of PW's re-post of the recipe - I just tweaked the caramel to my liking in gooey-ness.

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate cake mix (have to use this kind bc you need the pudding in mix)
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• ⅓ cups evaporated milk
• ½ cups evaporated milk (additional)
• ½ cups butter, melted
• 48 whole caramels (amount in most bags), unwrapped
• ⅓ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 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 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

4. In a double boiler melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup 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 wax paper. Use your hands to press it into a large square about the size of the pan. Carefully turn the wax paper and dough upside down and set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.  Peel the wax paper off and discard.

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for about 2-3 hours minimum. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.  (I cut and removed, then powdered over a plate and then put on serving plates so they stayed looking pretty.)

(the real thing = Dorothy Lane Market killer brownie)