Crack Brownies

Your eyes do not deceive you. These are called crack brownies...because they are addictive like a drug. No, seriously you won't be able to stop eating them.

When Peter and I first started dating we loved to pick up a Pink's Pizza at least once a week. If you have never tried one of their pizzas and you live in Houston, you are really missing out. Our regular order was a large with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. BEST PIZZA EVER. One of the first times we picked up a pizza we noticed that they were selling a dessert called "crack brownies" by the register. Peter wanted to try one, this was before he knew he had Type 1 diabetes, so we took a few home with us. They were amazing and I wanted to know how to make them at home. I literally disected the last few bites of mine to figure out how to make them, The next week I gave it a try and we thought they turned out better than the brownies at Pink's.

We used to eat these way too often but it's been about a year since the last time I made them. Peter likes to tease that these brownies caused his diabetes, of course we know that is not the case, but we did eat them A LOT in the months before his diagnosis.

There are a lot of versions of this recipe all over the internet. I tinkered with a few, made changes and finally settled on this (my own) version. Enjoy!

I found that using a disposable aluminum pan works better than one you want to keep. I have had to cut the sides to get the brownies out...

Crack Brownies
1 box German chocolate cake mix
10 caramel candies
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and melted butter. Mix by hand until dough forms. It will kind of resemble a big tootsie roll. Divide the dough in half.

Take one half of the dough and spread it thinly on the bottom of the pan. Make sure the edges rise up about 1/2 inch along all sides of the pan. The raised edges will act like walls that will keep the caramel from spilling over the sides.

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix the caramels and evaporated milk, stirring continuously until completely melted. Immediately pour the caramel mixture over the first layer of dough. Make sure the dough is completely covered. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

On a floured work surface, roll out the remaining dough to the dimensions of your baking pan. Gently press the dough over the caramel and chocolate chips, until completely covered.

Bake for twenty minutes, remove from over and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Serve cold.