3/4cupmargarine or butter (I always use margarine since that's how this recipe was given to me)melted
2/3cupevaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk) divided use
6oz.semi-sweet chocolate morsels
11oz.bag of caramels (unwrapped) or caramel bitsI use Kraft caramel bits (it's faster and easier)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, make the brownie batter by combining the cake mix with the melted margarine and one-third cup of the evaporated milk; this will be a very thick mixture.
Place half of the prepared brownie batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Using your fingers, spread the brownie batter out evenly over the bottom of the pan, pressing it together to make the brownie base. Bake, uncovered, on the center rack of the preheated oven for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the remaining half of brownie mixture into the fridge. Melt the caramel bits in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a bowl in your microwave. Stir one-third cup of the remaining evaporated milk into the melted caramel until smooth; reserve. (You will have evaporated milk leftover, fyi)
When the brownie base has baked for 7 minutes, remove the brownies from the oven; sprinkle with the chocolate chips, then drizzle with the warm, melted caramel mixture. Crumble the remaining half of the brownie batter over the top of the caramel layer.
Return the brownies to the oven; bake for 15-20 minutes or until the center of the brownies is fairly set. Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
If you don’t have a German chocolate cake mix on hand, you can always use a Devil’s food, Swiss chocolate, or Fudge Chocolate cake mix as a substitute.
Any kind of chocolate chips can be substituted for the semi-sweet chips – sometimes I even use white chocolate chips to vary this recipe a bit.
You will find caramels in the candy section of your local grocer, but I prefer to use the bags of caramel bits found in the baking section (near the chocolate chips) since you don’t have to unwrap each one – saves time!
If you’d like your Fat Boy brownies to be a little thicker, bake them in a 9×9 pan instead of a 9×13 pan. Adjust the baking time to add 5-10 minutes more since the brownies will be thicker and more dense.
The easiest way to cut brownies (or sheet cakes) is to use a bench scraper. By pressing down on the bench scraper, it’s easy to see right where you to cut.
I cut my brownies into thirds lengthwise, then I turn the pan and cut the sheet of brownies in half; next, I cut each half into 3 pieces. This will give you 18 squarely cut brownies.