These Basement Brownies, also known as the best chocolate caramel brownies, are a big time favorite on RecipeGirl.com.
Watch the short video showing you how to make these Basement Brownies, then you can scroll down to the bottom to print out the complete recipe and make them yourself!
They’re so easy to make, and there is a great story behind them!
I love a recipe with a good story behind it. My family was recently visiting my brother and sister-in-law in beautiful Colorado. As usual with my snoopy nature, I scoured my sister-in-law Sarah’s personal recipes with hopes of finding some new treasures to try. These Basement Brownies caught my eye!
These Chocolate- Caramel brownies are called Basement Brownies because when Sarah was a little girl… she used to make them for her Dad, who used to sneak these brownies into the basement to hide them so he could have them all for himself.
The name, “Basement Brownies” has stuck! Don’t you love that?!
You’ve gotta love a recipe with only 5 ingredients. Super simple. They start with a boxed mix… which is not usually my style of baking, but these brownies turn out so awesome that you can’t even tell it starts with a box.
And sometimes starting with a boxed mix is just what we need in our busy day-to-day lives! It’s okay to take short-cuts once in a while.
How to Make Basement Brownies:
The caramels are melted with a little bit of evaporated milk to create a caramel sauce. Sarah says that in-a-pinch she has also used jarred caramel sauce in place of melting your own.
The cake mix is simply combined with evaporated milk and butter. A portion of the batter is slightly baked, then topped with chocolate chips and caramel, then topped with more batter and baked again.
The result is not so impressive-looking, right? Just you wait…!!
The inside brownie part is slightly gooey, and there are two layers in there that can put anyone into a delightful sugar coma: one layer of melted chocolate chips and one layer of ooey caramel too.
Oh YEAH. Basement brownies. After a few bites of these, I can completely understand how they got their name.
And here’s the culprit right here. This handsome guy is Sarah’s Dad, the brownie lover who gave these guys their deserved name– brownies-so-good-you’ve-gotta-hide-them-in-the-basement! We understand. Completely.
Thanks, Sarah… for a great recipe!
Here are a few more brownie recipes you might enjoy:
Basement Brownies
Ingredients
- 50 caramels, unwrapped
- One 15.25-ounce box German chocolate cake mix
- 1 cup evaporated milk, divided
- 3/4 cup (1½ sticks) salted butter, melted
- 12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x9-inch pan.
- Melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until caramels have completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry cake mix, remaining 2/3 cup evaporated milk and butter. Mix by hand until batter is smooth and combined.
- Pour a little over 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes only and then remove from the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top of the partially cooked brownie. Drizzle caramel on top of the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter on top. You probably won't have enough to cover the caramel completely.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 18 to 20 minutes until the brownies feel fairly set on top and the edges are lightly browned and crisp. Let the brownies cool completely before cutting. The longer they have time to cool, the more they will firm up.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are the exact brownies my mom made as I was growing up, but she called them “Ecstasy Brownies”! After she passed away, I scoured her kitchen for the recipe and couldn’t find it. My mom’s best friend actually posted your video on Facebook, not realizing it was the same one! I made a comment about it and she said “I thought these brownies seemed familiar”! I’m planning on making them for my 5 year old’s Girl Scout Halloween party. Thanks for helping me continue a tradition ?
that’s so fun to hear!
These brownies are great & can be spruced up by drizzle salted caramel over the top & a few nuts (ok so you need to eat with a fork or spoon but what the heck)
I’ve been making these for 40 years, but they have a different name (of course). Ree Drummond also makes a version.
How can unwrapping 50-60 caramels be part of a ‘quick’ recipe? That would take forever!
It doesn’t take as long as you think- they slide right off. Plus, you can put a kid on that task 🙂
Can you use unsalted butter? I have a lot of unsalted butter but no salted butter.
Sure- just add a bit of salt to the recipe.
Oh, the original recipe called for an 18.5 oz size cake mix and a 1 lb bag of caramels. I have adjusted my ingredients for a smaller cake mix. A bag of caramels is now 11 oz.
Been making these for at least 30 years. Called “Turtle Brownies” in my cookbook. I make them in a 9×13 Pyrex dish. Also add a generous amount of chopped pecans. Fantastic warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream on top. Like a hot Sundae!
Does anybody know if any adjustment needs to be made for high altitude?
I don’t think so. I’ve made these in Denver many times without any problems.
It would be helpful to know how much the caramels equal in terms of cups. I am using up some caramel topping, and will make a “guess-timate” that these is equal to at least 2.5 cups. Instead of using evaporated milk, I will take your “safe substitution” of a combination of half and half and “clarified” milk. There are always endless possibilities for “safe substitutions,” so without going out to purchase a German Chocolate Cake mix, I will make a half batch of my own German Chocolate Mix from scratch. I think the results will be the same. Thanks for any clarification on the amount of melted caramels!
We call them Carousel Brownies…..it is a work thing.
We use a 9×13 though. I like triple chocolate fudge cake mix, and we always top them with dark chocolate frosting.
Best eaten with a fork!