Carmel-Filled Brownies

For my and my brother's birthday celebration at my parents' house, I made a brownie recipe I've been drooling over for a while. Ree Drummond's Knock You Naked Brownies!

I followed the recipe exactly with two exceptions: I omitted the nuts and the chocolate chips. I knew my brother wouldn't like the nuts, and I just figured the chocolate chips would be overkill.

And without further adieu, here we go (oh and after the photos, I'll tell you what's up next...I'll be baking Thursday night in preparation for Valentine's Day).

Making some batter.

Batter gets divided in two to sandwich the caramel filling.

While the first layer bakes...

...you melt caramel squares with some evaporated milk to make the filling.

Pour some sugar on me!

Layered up, all that's missing is the top.

You form the other half of dough into a square just a bit smaller than the pan (it expands as it bakes).

Just before serving, I dusted my and my brother's cuts using a cupcake mask to make them extra festive. (The rest just got a straight-up dusting.)

Just look at that caramel in there...oh my...

And up next: I will make home-baked doughtnuts topped with chocolate glaze and sprinkles. They'll be our special VDay morning brekky treat. I have a brand new gorgeous glass cake stand to house them, and some small red doilies to place them on. Stay tuned, and until then...sweet dreams.