Swirled Turtle Brownies

I noticed a new product the other day in the baking aisle of my local grocery store. Nestle Swirled Milk Chocolate & Caramel Morsels. I automatically checked the package for recipes. There was the standard Tollhouse cookie recipe using these morsels instead of the usual semi-sweet chocolate morsels and a recipe for Swirled Turtle Brownies. It called for caramel sauce. I love caramel almost as much as I love chocolate so I grabbed a bag of Swirled Milk Chocolate & Caramel morsels and a jar of caramel sauce and headed home to bake.

At first, I thought this was going to be one of those recipes that doesn't work. The batter was so stiff, it was virtually impossible to spread it in the pan. I resorted to using a knife dipped in water. With a lot of effort, I managed to spread the batter more or less evenly in the pan. When it came out of the oven, the brownie portion appeared to have cooked perfectly.

Then I tried to "drizzle" the caramel sauce artistically. It all ran together forming a caramel glaze. The recipe on the package said to drizzle before cutting. When I checked the website (Nestle VeryBestBaking.com), it said you could drizzle the caramel sauce either before or after cutting. I was pleased to see that their picture looked no more appetizing than mine.

The taste, however, is wonderful despite the brownie portion being a bit dry for my tastes. I think the next time I make this, I will use my very own "OldRoses Melt In Your Mouth Brownies" recipe.

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper.

Swirled Turtle Brownies

(Source: the back of the morsels package)

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Nestle Toll House Baking Cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cups (10-oz pkg) Nestle Toll House Swirled Milk Chocolate & Caramel Morsels, divided

1 cup chopped pecans, divided

1/3 cup caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 3/4 cup Swirled Morsels and 1/2 cup nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle remaining Swirled Morsels and remaining nuts over top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from outer edge comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Drizzle with caramel sauce before cutting into squares.

Makes 20 brownies

Recycle: vanilla extract bottle

Compost: eggshells