Happy Birthday, Katie!

Today's my roomie's birthday.  She loves all things salted caramel and all things chocolate.  Like Starbuck's salted caramel hot chocolate.  So when my September Cooking Light featured brownies and one of the recipes was for a salted caramel version, I knew exactly what Katie's birthday treat would be.

 And here they are, with a few modifications.  The largest being I baked them in an 8 inch cake pan because I wanted to be able to cut it like a slice of cake instead of the usual square pieces.

Brownies
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Same amount flour as chocolate?  Can you say amazing?)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.  Set aside

Blend white and brown sugar, melted butter, and eggs until creamy.

Add vanilla.  Beat.

Add dry ingredients slowly while beating.

Transfer batter into greased pan 9 inch square pan.
Bake at 350* for 19 minutes.
Or bake for about 25 minutes if using 8 inch round pan.

 Caramel Topping
1/4 butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons milk (the recipe says evaporated, but any dairy product will work)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Melt better in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add brown sugar and milk.
Cook for 3-5 minutes while stirring.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
Remove from heat and whisk until well blended.
Spread evenly over cooled brownies.

Chocolate Drizzle
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons milk
1-2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Coarse sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave on high in 20 second increments, stirring between, until chocolate is melted.
Addition of a little more milk may be needed to make it drizzle-able.
Make an artsy design on the caramel topped brownies.
Sprinkle with sea salt.