Brown Butter Vegan Caramel Brownies
These rich vegan caramel brownies are made using dairy free brown butter and stuffed to the brim with a thick and gooey homemade dairy free caramel. With the fudgiest molten centers and a paper thin, shiny crinkle top, these vegan brownies are pure decadence!
Tell me about these brown butter vegan salted caramel brownies:
We’re taking the term, brownies, and adding a whole new layer to it. Actually two more layers. we took the best vegan brownie recipe in the world, filled it with the gooiest caramel, and added browned vegan butter for good measure.
Then a hefty sprinkle of fancy flaky sea salt to finish. Is your mouth drooling yet?
And you better believe that these amazing brownies are made without eggs, without dairy, and completely vegan (with an option of being gluten free!). Just like all my other brownie recipes on the blog 😉 (have you tried my vegan lemon brownies or Oreo brownies yet?! Because you must!).
Doesn’t caramel dissolve when baking?
I had the same thought when thinking about how to make vegan salted caramel brownies. This can sometimes happen, even in more traditional recipes made with butter and eggs: the caramel dissolves into the brownies as they bake.
That means there’s no gooeyness of the caramel left! Plus, the brownies would feel a little too dense.
My first solve was to bake the brownies separately, then add a layer of caramel on top, followed by ganache. But those proved too decadent I felt. One bite would sometimes be too much!
So how did we resolve this?
Make a super thick caramel sauce.
Overview: How to make and assemble vegan caramel brownies:
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
Can these be made gluten free?
Absoltuely! I have made my fudgy vegan brownies soooo many times with gluten free flour. I prefer to use King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour (actually, I just saved a few stories in my AMA highlight on Instagram as to why). It’s absolutely lovely, and you really still get that fudgy brownie texture!
What’s the best vegan chocolate to use?
I personally opt for a high quality chocolate, like Endangered Spices, Theo, Pascha Chocolate, or Valrhona. Those are my top favorites. Not all of these brands are 100% vegan (meaning that they might sell a type of chocolate that also contains dairy, but do sell chocolate bars that are vegan and dairy free). So just be sure to read the label!
How to store vegan salted caramel brownies:
After you’ve sliced into your vegan salted caramel brownies, I recommend storing them in the fridge. They’ll last better that way. Place your sliced caramel brownies into an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months!
You’re just going to LOVE these easy vegan salted caramel brownies!! Let me know what you think down below in the comments section 🙂 Enjoy, and happy baking!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
PrintFudgy Vegan Salted Caramel Brownies
- Prep Time: 40
- Cooling Time: 60
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Brownies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These rich vegan caramel brownies are made using dairy free brown butter and stuffed to the brim with a thick and gooey homemade dairy free caramel. With the fudgiest molten centers and a paper thin, shiny crinkle top, these vegan brownies are pure decadence!
Ingredients
Brownie Base, based on my vegan fudgy brownies:
- 1 2/3 cup (200 g) all-purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- 1/2 cup (50 g) high quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder*
- 3/4 cup (170 g) vegan butter*
- 6 ounces vegan chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) aquafaba or soy milk, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 1/2 cup (118 mL) water OR 1/2 cup (120 g) pumpkin puree, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Additional 1/2 cup (80 g) vegan chocolate chips
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (95 mL) vegan heavy cream, room temperature
- 5 tbsp vegan butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Start by making the brownies first, so read through the instructions for those. Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside a separate glass square dish to cool the caramel in.
- Make the vegan homemade caramel: First we’ll make the caramel. In a medium pot, add the sugar and heat on medium heat, stirring lazily to dissolv the sugar. The sugar will start to caramelize in color. It should reach slightly dark golden color (about 7-8 minutes). Once it does, remove the sugar from heat immediately. You don’t want it to burn!
- Add in the vegan butter and heavy cream: Stir in the vegan butter and continue stirring vigorously. The sugar will start to harden into a softball. Place the pan back onto the stove to heat on low and stir until the sugar integrates with the butter. Then pour in the vegan heavy cream, and continue stirring vigorously to allow the sugar to dissolve into the heavy cream.
- Boil the caramel: Bring the heat back up to medium heat, and allow the caramel to bubble undisturbed for 3 minutes. Then remove from heat, and stir in the sea salt. Pour the caramel into a square casserole dish and place into the fridge to cool. This helps to speed up the cooling time.
- While the caramel is cooling, make the brownies: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the sugar, brown sugar, aquafaba, vanilla extract, and flaxseed mixture or pumpkin puree. Mix until the sugar granules are completely dissolved. This is crucial, as this gives the vegan brownies their crinkle top. Set aside.
- Brown the vegan butter: In a small saucepan, heat the vegan butter on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the fat solids in the butter start to brown, about 5 minutes. Vegan butter tends to foam, so to check how the butter is coming along, remove it from heat for 30 seconds and stir to allow the bubbles to calm down. Keep going until you reach a golden color and the butter smells nutty.
- Make the fudge sauce: Remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the chocolate chips . Allow the chocolate to sit for a few seconds to start melting. Then add in the cocoa powder as well, and whisk until the chocolate chips have completely melted and the cocoa powder is integrated into the mixture.
- Finish the brownie batter: Use a rubber spatula to spoon the chocolate fudge mixture into the dissolved sugar mixture. Whisk until combined. Then add in the flour and sea salt, and gently whisk JUST until the flour is completely incorporated. The brownie batter will feel really thick. That’s okay! Continue whisking just until the flour is incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips, and fold into the brownie batter to evenly distribute.
- Assemble the brownies: Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter into the pan, and spread to the edges. Then take the caramel and pour an even layer of caramel over the brownie batter. Try not to spread the caramel to the edges, as that will make it harder to remove the brownies from the pan. Then spread the remaining batter on top. It’s okay if pockets of caramel poke out.
- Bake: Bake the brownies for 33-36 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out semi-clean. Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- Slice and enjoy! Remove the brownies from the freezer, and slice them into 16 squares. Top with flaky sea salt, and enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: Use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour in the fudgy brownies recipe.
Vegan butter: I recommend Miyoko’s and Plant Crock for browning vegan butter.
I’m in the process of making these now, and wondering if I don’t plan to serve these right away, do I freeze and then place in the fridge until I’m ready to serve/eat or skip the freezer step entirely and just put in the fridge?
If you’re going to serve them that same day still, you can keep them in the fridge until you’re ready!
What brand of vegan heavy cream do you use? I have not seen this at my store.
I used Silk heavy cream here, but you can also use Country Crock, Califia, or just use coconut cream! If you’re using coconut cream, make sure that it’s at room temp- no need to chill it 🙂
Hello! Can I use coconut cream for the caramel? I’m in Canada and I’m not sure I’ve seen vegan heavy cream.
Hi Willow! Yes you can 🙂 You don’t need to chill the can either, just use it at room temperature!
I don’t know if I would completely agree with the easy reference, there are a lot of steps. But that said, the end result is truly decadent and although while making them I was thinking never again, my family insists these are a MUST have. Guests would never know these were vegan or GF, which is the way the world should be. Kudos on a great recipe!
Can I make these with non-vegan butter? Not needing to make these with any sensitivities in mind, however wondering if butter and perhaps a different cream would change the consistency of the recipe?
Hi Kelsey! So you can technically make these with non-vegan butter, but I haven’t personally tried it so I can’t guarantee results. In theory, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work (many of my recipes are based on my knowledge of baking from before I was vegan), I just don’t feel comfortable telling you something will work that I haven’t personally tried in years!
Made these last week! They’re delish!! Only tip would be to make sure your caramel is thick, I didn’t let mine bubble enough and it was pretty thin, but still delish!
This is so awesome!! That can totally happen with the caramel- allowing it to get darker in color (don’t worry, you won’t burn it!) really helps! Also adding less heavy cream if needed next time!
So yummy! I’m not an avid baker so this was my first time making caramel – I think I had it on too high of a heat because it tasted pretty bitter/burnt on its own. In the end it didn’t really matter because with all the sweetness and chocolatey-ness it actually balanced quite well. End result was a yummy fudgey gooey brownie! 🙂
Oh I’m so happy they still turned out well!! Yes caramel can be tricky at first to figure out, but once you do, it’s so easy to just make over and over again!
By chance would Bobs red mill 1:1 gluten free flour work? Looking forward to making these!
Hi Gina! I haven’t had success with Bob’s in a while, so I just use King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour- that’s my preferred blend! With this recipe, it’s absolutely fantastic. Even my non-vegan AND non-gluten free FIL was obsessed with these as gluten free! However, I know that some bakers still will use bob’s with success in my recipes- I wish I could speak to how, but that’s just my personal experience!
Thank you for answering my question. I really appreciate it. Definitely will buy some of the flour that works well for you. I have one more quick question could I swap the granulated sugar and brown sugar for all coconut sugar? Thanks so much!
Absolutely! For the sugar swap, yes you actually can and they’ll work great! Just be sure to still dissolve the sugar completely in the liquid 🙂 Enjoy!!
I can’t have dairy, so I’ve been searching for a brownie recipe that’s actually good. this is it! delicious!
I subbed the sugars for monkfruit and truvia brown sugar since my husband is a diabetic and I used gluten free flour. hubby loves them!
I’m so happy to hear this!! Thank you so much for the review!! Enjoy 🙂
What brand do you use for the heavy cream, I’ve never seen that in my area (CNY) so I’m not quite sure what to look for?
I really like Silk or Plant Crock!! Both are very good. Sometimes I’ll use Califia, but I find it’s not as consistent- some containers are great, others are kinda eh and split.
I baked this recipe yesterday for my non vegan family and they LOVED it!! It was absolutely delicious! It was my very first time making a caramel and it worked! I am from Canada and I used Becel plant based butter and Belsoy soy cream. There are quite a few steps but they are all super easy and well explained. All the ingredients are simple. Thank you so much for this amazing desert! I am really motivated to try other recipes and really grateful for this website that allows me to eat such delicious desert being vegan!
Can you use almond milk instead of soy?
Yes you can! It might not be as shiny, but yes, it will work 🙂