Dulce de Leche Brownies

This dulce de leche brownie recipe is genius.

I've been making them for years, and they rank up there. Way up there.

They are worth their weight in gold or whatever thing is worth a ton now. I might even like them more than the best peanut butter brownies ever, and that's saying a lot.

They're a great snack or dessert for a barbecue, beach day, and a chilly afternoon with a cup of coffee, so they work for everyone.

People love them, and that's saying a lot since everything here in Argentina has dulce de leche. Still, these mouthwatering brownies make raving fans out of us.

Do make this recipe, the results are so good. Finger.licking.good. Literally.

What is dulce de leche?

Dulce de leche is a sweet jam made with milk, sugar, and baking soda, the latter being accountable for its dark color.

The flavor is very sweet, similar to caramel but not quite.

It does have a milk undertone, something that caramel lacks, and some might say it’s not as sophisticated, and they might be right.

I’m a raving fan, so my opinion is biased.

It takes a few hours to make, and there are as many tips and tricks as grandmothers in this country. Each with its own recipe.

We have an abundance of brands and styles (pretty much like peanut butter in the US). So we buy it, we don't make it that often at home.

You can make homemade dulce de leche following my tips. It's not hard at all and uses few ingredients.

Also, you can make dulce de leche from a jar of sweetened condensed milk, not because it's magic but because condensed milk is what happens if you start making dulce de leche and stop halfway through. You only have thick, sweetened milk that didn't have enough time to evaporate and darken.

You can easily buy it online. My favorite brands are dulce de leche Chimbote, dulce de leche Cachafaz, and San Ignacio milk caramel spread.

Ingredients

Use a clear shot of the ingredients for this recipe, prepped, and labeled if necessary. Insert the ingredients into the list below, omitting quantities.

• Dulce de leche: I buy it and use dulce de leche Chimbote, dulce de leche Cachafaz, and San Ignacio milk caramel spread. you can make homemade dulce de leche following my tips. It's not hard at all and uses few ingredients.
• Chocolate: use your favorite dark semisweet chocolate for this recipe. I like Callebaut 54% chocolate wafers or Ghirardelli Premium baking bar.
• Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened. I like Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder, Ghirardelli Premium baking cocoa, and Scharffen Berger natural cocoa powder. And, in my experience, the dark ones are the best (this does not apply to the super dark used for making homemade oreo cookies known as dark cocoa powder).
• Unsalted butter.
• White granulated sugar.
• Eggs: fresh, large.
• Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper. 
• All-purpose or cake flour.
• Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.

See the recipe card towards the end of this post for quantities.

How to make dulce de leche brownies

There are two parts to this recipe, the brownie base, and the dulce de leche topping.

Brownie batter

One-bowl recipe: use a large mixing bowl and a whisk.

Melt chocolate and butter: always start with chopped chocolate in a microwavable or glass bowl. You can use the microwave (short 10-15 second spurts stirring well between each one until they're completely melted) or a double boiler with the bowl containing the chopped chocolate/butter not touching the water. In both cases, make sure it doesn't scorch.

The cocoa powder is added to the melted and hot chocolate butter mixture. This opens or 'blooms' the flavor.

Then the sugars are added together. They will help to lower the temperature of the mixture before adding the eggs.

Dulce de leche swirl

Drop mounds or dollops of dulce de leche on top of the brownie batter.

Swirl it using the tip of a knife. Don't overdo it if you want pools of dulce de leche to appear throughout the baked brownies.

Vintage Kitchen tip: if you swirl both mixtures too much, the dulce de leche will disappear into the chocolate. The taste will be wonderful, but you won't have those pools of thick dulce de leche.

Baking brownies

A general rule for baking brownies is taking them out of the oven while the center still jiggles. That's how you get fudgy brownies.

This recipe is no exception.

• Don't let the batter firm up completely.
• The top will be dry, but the center will be jiggly.
• Use a smooth-bladed knife to loosen up the edges while the brownies are still hot so you can remove them easily from the pan.
• Cool them completely on a wire rack.
• Lift the whole block of brownies with the help of the parchment paper. Then transfer it to a board and cut them.

Kitchen notes

• Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the right temperatures, equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
• Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. Use a thermometer inside the oven (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that the temperature is right. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust. 
• Chocolate flavor: melted chocolate and cocoa powder are used in the recipe. The final chocolate flavor will be superb, deep, and intense.
• Type of dulce de leche: use the regular type that stays soft after baking. This will ensure that you bite into gooey dulce de leche that hasn't hardened during baking. I use dulce de leche Chimbote, dulce de leche Cachafaz, and San Ignacio milk caramel spread.
• Marbling or swirling: the mixture should be marbled a bit but not too much. Make sure you have whole spots of dulce de leche. You need the puddle of dulce de leche so that when you bite, you can taste it separated from the chocolate.

Nutella variation

I suggest making a Nutella version, that hazelnut chocolate spread beloved by most of us, because I strongly believe that almost anything made with dulce de leche can be made with Nutella.