Amaretto Brownies with Irish Cream Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter and Pretzels

I have not posted much lately due to illness, but I reward your patience with these quadruple-layer, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink brownies. These are the result of cold and snow. Yes, we bake in the winter as an activity to keep warm when the furnace seems to be struggling to do the same. You might even say the furnace feels under the weather! (Eyeroll)

In not being able to decide whether I wanted to bake something chocolatey, or peanut buttery, or something with caramel and/or pretzels, I said screw it, I'll take them all! Together! In one epic square of diabetes-inducing deliciousness! (Seriously, don't eat more than one of these at once.)

Also these look like a lot of work, but they are really pretty easy.

Amaretto Brownies:

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

1 stick butter (8 TBS or 1/2 cup)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup amaretto

1/2 cup flour

Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and sugar together, stirring, until all melted and combined. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and amaretto. Mix in the melted stuff, then slowly stir in flour and salt. Pour into pan and bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. (You can stick it in the fridge to speed this up.)

Caramel layer:

1/3 cup brown sugar

4 TBS butter (1/4 cup)

2 TBS Irish Cream Liqueur (or heavy cream works fine)

Coarse sea salt

Melt sugar and butter together on medium heat in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly. Allow to come to a boil, cook another minute, stirring, and remove from heat. Stir in Irish cream. Allow to cool at room temperature (you want it pourable but not boiling).

When the brownies are cool, pour the caramel on top. It may not all fit - if not, stick them back in the fridge and let the caramel set. Pour the remaining caramel on top. Sprinkle with sea salt, and return to fridge to harden slightly.

Peanut butter frosting:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

6 TBS butter, softened

1/2 cup + powdered sugar

Use electric mixer to cream together butter and peanut butter. Gradually add sugar, about a quarter at a time, until you get the right consistency. When caramel is slightly firm, put frosting in a pastry bag with the widest nozzle you have. (I used a disposable bag and cut a large piece off the tip. And then stopped to pull my brain out of the gutter. If you have no pastry bags, you can use a ziplock bag, squeeze the frosting into a corner, and cut the tip off that.) Squeeze frosting around perimeter, and then make lines going up and down the middle of the brownies. Use a spatula to very gently join the lines of frosting together, making an even coat. You don't want to do this with a knife because that caramel isn't solid.

Pretzel layer:

Miniature pretzels. Put them on top. (This is the hardest part.)

These four flavors and textures go excellently together, but be warned: sugar overload!

Update! If you find yourself with a bunch of extras and the caramel hardens completely, you can re-goo the whole thing by sticking it in the microwave on 30% power for ten seconds, depending on your microwave. Take the pretzel off first. And you may need a spoon.