Brownies with Caramel and Chocolate Sauce (aka Over the Top Brownies)

I love brownies. I love chocolate. I love caramel. So why not put them all together? Luckily over at Mybakingaddiction.com, she loves the same things and came up with this delicious recipe!!! I love how the caramel and chocolate are just oozing down over the top! Looking at that picture makes me happy. It made my stomach happy too, (a couple of times... hee hee).

Over The Top Brownies
slightly adapted from mybakingaddiction.com
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate (chunks, disks, chips or mini chips)

Topping
1/4 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate
18 Kraft Caramels
2 tablespoons heavy cream
chopped/crushed nuts (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F
Prepare a 9×13 baking dish as follows: lightly spray the insides with cooking spray then with the dish horizontally in front of you lay in one sheet of aluminum foil across the length (left-to-right) leaving enough overhang on the sides so that you can use the excess foil as handles and on top of that lay in one sheet of aluminum foil across the width (top-to-bottom). Spray the foil with cooking spray. You want to be sure the insides of the pan are completely covered and you have foil “handles” which you’ll use to lift the slab of brownies from the pan after baking
In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, both sugars and the vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until the liquid mixture is completely blended.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually add this into the liquid mixture until it is fully incorporated. Add in the chocolate pieces (chunks, disks, chips or mini chips) and stir to combine. It will resemble fudge frosting at this point… and it will taste delicious!! Spread evenly into the prepared baking dish.
Bake about 40-45 minutes until a few moist crumbs cling to a toothpick inserted in the center. Don’t bake to the point of the toothpick coming out clean or the brownies will be dry. Remove the baking dish from the oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes… then… using the foil handles remove the brownie slab from the dish and cool completely on wire rack.
Put the caramels in a microwave-safe bowl and add the heavy cream. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring well after each time until the caramels begin to melt and stir to incorporate the cream. Do not over-cook this!
After the brownies have cooled a bit but are not yet at room temperature, pour the melted caramel/cream mixture over the top and let it set up for a little while. Then drizzle on the melted chocolate and top with crushed nuts. (we didn't use nuts and my kids liked it a little better).We like to serve them warm and gooey with a big glass of milk!!!