Need a showstopping, decadent, indulgent yet fully flourless dessert? Friend, you’ve come to the right place. These fudgy flourless brownies are intensely chocolaty, dense, moist and topped with a generous layer of rich salty caramel. Make them for a weekend treat or a weekday pick-me-up and prepare to fall in love with a brownie.
Flourless Brownies with Salted Caramel Topping
Happy almost-Labor-Day-weekend, American folks! Before we kick off the official end of summer (SOB) with a long weekend, let’s talk about one of my favorite things — BROWNIES. More specifically, let’s talk about these totally awesome flourless brownies topped with salted caramel. They’re insane in all the good ways and they also happen to be gluten free! If your weekend doesn’t include a batch of these, are you really living your best life?
Here’s the story behind these brownies: I’d been thinking for a long time about how I want to make an intensely fudgy and decadent flourless brownie. Of course, I have these equally delicious Fudgy Brownies with Cashew Butter Frosting on site already and I do love them so, so much. But they contain flour, and that’s not always an ideal situation (especially when we have gluten-free friends to feed). It also happens that one of my husband’s favorite desserts is flourless chocolate cake, and so — not that I needed the excuse — I decided to embark on this delicious journey. And now we are here, ready to dig into this fudgy, flourless goodness.
Flourless Brownies vs. Brownies with Flour
The process of making flourless brownies is fairly similar to that of making brownies with flour. The biggest difference here? We use cocoa powder and cornstarch to act as the “flour” agent in these brownies. Combined with melted butter (for chewiness and richness), eggs (for binding) and chocolate chips (for extra chocolate flavor), these brownies come together beautifully, no flour needed. They’re dense, moist, flavorful and honestly, perfectly delicious on their own without a salted caramel topping.
But since this salted caramel sauce topping is incredibly easy to make (only three ingredients!), I thought why the heck not? So, I topped my brownies with a thick layer of gooey caramel sauce and sprinkled flaky Maldon salt over the top, Salt Bae-style (as one does). The result is pure sweet-and-salty dessert heaven.
Tips for the Best Flourless Brownies
To ensure you get the most bang for your buck when baking these brownies, here are a few quick tips to share:
- Do not skip the step of lining the pan with parchment paper! A parchment sling is essential to making sure these dense brownies come cleanly out of the baking pan. It takes two seconds to do this, so make the time.
- The caramel topping is thick and — unsurprisingly — sticky and gooey. Once out of the refrigerator, it will start to melt over the brownies after about 15 minutes at room temperature. While this makes for a tasty brownie situation, it also makes for a mega-mess in terms of cutting the brownies. I suggest cutting them into squares as soon as you take the brownie slab out of the refrigerator and pan. And, if you don’t plan to serve them right away, keep them in the fridge (in an airtight container) until you’re ready to serve.
- Serve these brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That’s not really a tip as much as it is a serving suggestion, but in either case, YOU’RE WELCOME.
Friends, if your Labor Day (or any weekend) needs a little sweet treat, these flourless brownies are here for you. Don’t let the end of summer go by (sniffle) without giving these a try!
Craving more brownies? I gotchu.
- Thick and Fudgy Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Brownies
- Brownie Monster Cookies
- Homemade Brownies
- Strawberry Brownies
- Halloween Brownie Truffles
Flourless Brownies with Salted Caramel Topping
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli
For the salted caramel topping:
- 1 ½ cups soft caramel candies, unwrapped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- Flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper; spray with cooking spray.
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Stir in cocoa powder until smooth.
- Remove pan from heat. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; stir until smooth. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Stir in cornstarch and salt until smooth. Gently stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour and spread batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownies are firm, center is set and top is shiny. Cool brownies completely, in baking pan on a cooling rack, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make the salted caramel sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir caramels and heavy cream constantly until mixture is melted, smooth and velvety. Pour and spread over fully cooled brownies in pan. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
- Refrigerate brownies until caramel topping is fully hardened, at least 30 minutes. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
- Store brownies in airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 days.
- To cut brownies cleanly, use a very sharp knife and don’t drag it through the brownies; just cut down and lift straight up. Rinse knife with hot water and dry completely between cuts.
- Brownie recipe adapted from The Washington Post.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Thanks for the recipe! I made these yesterday & they are so amazing! Perfect ratio of caramel to brownie!
Jenny, Ahh that makes me so happy, thank you! So glad you loved them. 🙂