awesome brownies ~ tailgate!

It’s a football Saturday, and you know you want some awesome brownies for your tailgate! These are my favorites. It’s a Deen Brother’s recipe, but I CANNOT find it anywhere as a link, so sharing here with my SCBD {small change, big difference} tips for fixin’em up.

ingredients
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2 (16.5 oz) rolls refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough ~ I use Nestle’s Toll House dough
1 (15.5 oz) fudge brownie box mix ~ I use Duncan Hine’s Double Fudge Decadent brownie mix
1 jar caramel ice cream topping ~ use about 3/4 cup
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

These are easy to fix, but it is about technique. I have a few SCBD tips that make all the difference between decadent, chewy brownie cookie bars and unevenly baked bars with rock hard bits of caramel (not a good thing)!

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Tip #1 ~ it’s all about the 9 x 13 pan! I recommend using a 9 x 13 ceramic stoneware or enameled cast iron. Alternately, you could use non-stick foil to line a metal pan (use 2 pieces, folded to cover first one direction, then the other), but enamel or ceramic sprayed with a non-stick coating works the best in my experience.

Put the 2 dough logs lengthwise in the prepared pan, and press gently to evenly cover the pan bottom. Bake for 15 minutes. The dough will puff up, and then deflate a bit when removed from the oven.

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions while the cookie layer bakes. Stir in the chopped, toasted pecans after the brownies are mixed up.

Tip #2 ~ precision caramel drizzling! After removing the cookie layer from the oven, drizzle about 3/4 cup of the caramel topping over the warm cookie layer. DO NOT drizzle any over the sides of the cookie layer. I n fact I stay a bit away from the sides to prevent it from running over. Caramel that runs over the side of the cookie layer turns rock hard, and has to be cut away wasting a lot the finished bars around the edges. I have learned this the HARD way <sigh>.

After adding the caramel layer, spoon the prepared brownie mix with pecans over the caramel.

Tip #3 ~ pay attention to the edges! I gently push the brownie mix down to the cookie layer to form a bit of a seal. this helps to keep the caramel layer in place.

Bake about 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes away clean. Depending on your pan, your baking time could be more or less. My ceramic stoneware pan takes about 48 minutes.

Tip #4 ~ cool completely! And I mean completely ~ like overnight. Seriously. I let these cool uncovered on the counter until just warm to the touch and then cover loosely for overnight cooling. So make these a day ahead when you can.

When I make these brownie cookie bars this way, they slice cleanly the next morning and are rich and chewy. When using a different pan or if caramel runs over the side, they can come out unevenly baked. You can salvage some by trimming off the hard parts, but that’s a drag. If you try to slice before they are completely cooled, the bars will not slice cleanly or hold together well. But hey, they taste good with a fork too!

If you want an AWESOME tailgate dessert, bake the day before, using my SCBD tips. I promise you will LOVE the results ~ and your tailgate neighbors will too. At least mine did at this concert tailgate!

Try them for your next tailgate, or neighborhood get-together or school bake sale and let me know what you think 🙂

Happy football Saturday y’all ~~~