The Best Dulce de Leche Brownies

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 or beach day, but also for a chilly afternoon with a cup of coffee, so they work for everyone.

Dulce de leche is second nature to us in Argentina, our daily spread here and these brownies manage to make addicts out of us.

People love them, and that's saying a lot since everything in this country has dulce de leche - a fact that is well recorded in this blog's recipe archives.

This is a lightly adapted recipe from David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris book.

What is dulce de leche?

Dulce de leche is a sweet jam (image below) made with milk, sugar, and baking soda, the latter being accountable for its dark color. It takes a few hours to make and there are as many tips and tricks as there are 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 use it a lot as you might imagine.

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.

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.

You can easily buy it online. My favorite brands are dulce de leche Cachafaz and dulce de leche Conaprole.

There are two parts to this recipe

1. Brownie base: made with chocolate and cocoa powder, it's a combination that makes them intensely chocolate.
2. Dulce de leche: for marbling the top. It's important that you don't overdo it so there are pools of dulce de leche that can be distinguished from the brownie.

Kitchen notes

• Organization: read the recipe first and make sure 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: use both melted chocolate and cocoa powder as instructed in the recipe. The final chocolate flavor will be superb, deep, and intense, something achieved by using both.
• Type of dulce de leche: use the regular kind so it stays soft after baking. This will ensure that you bite into gooey dulce de leche that hasn't hardened during baking. My favorites are dulce de leche Cachafaz and Conaprole caramel spread.
• Marbling: 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.

Variation

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

But hey, these are dulce de leche brownies, passing them up is unheard of. Do make this recipe, the results are so good. Finger.licking.good. Literally.