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Muffin Tin Brownie Bites with Salted Caramel Sauce
You may have picked up on the fact that I'm a bit of a brownie expert by the brownie recipe collection I have here on this website or from my first cookbook, Even Better Brownies. I know a thing or two about these chocolatey treats, so you can trust me when I say these muffin tin brownie bites with salted caramel sauce are insanely easy to make and delicious. You can make these brownies in a muffin pan as quickly as you can make a box mix; I’m talking in the oven in 20 minutes or less. And no need to even pull out a mixer!
Oh, and the salted caramel sauce? The salted caramel is pretty amazing straight off the spoon. If salted caramel isn't really your thing, try making these Oreo-stuffed brownie bites instead. And if you're looking for a more traditional brownie recipe, I suggest making the best fudgy brownies you will ever eat.
Ingredients & Substitutions
These brownie cups don’t require a ton of ingredients; here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Butter: The one and only. You'll need it for both the brownies and the salted caramel sauce.
- Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil helps keep these brownie cups nice & moist.
- Sugar: This recipe uses both granulated and light brown sugar for the ideal fudge brownie texture that's not too sweet; you'll also need granulated sugar to make the salted caramel!
- Eggs: Four large (room temperature) eggs are all you need!
- Vanilla: Leaving it out will make the brownie cups taste a little bland.
- All-purpose flour: Only 1¼ cups of all-purpose flour is needed!
- Cocoa powder: Because this recipe doesn't use melted chocolate, I recommend using a Dutch-processed cocoa for that deep, chocolatey flavor. However, your regular unsweetened cocoa powder will work just fine!
- Salt: Brownies made without salt taste a little plain, so don’t skip it. You'll also need just a pinch for the salted caramel sauce.
- Heavy cream: For the salted caramel!
How to Make Muffin Tin Brownie Bites
These brownie bites come together SO easily! Here's how you make them.
Recipe Troubleshooting & FAQ
How can you tell when the brownie cups are done baking?
A toothpick is your best friend when testing brownies for doneness. You’ll want to remove these brownies when your toothpick is covered in moist crumbs; they might even still look ever so slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat of the pan will continue to finish cooking them to fudgy perfection, however, so make sure to let them cool completely in the pan.
Help! My brownie bites stuck to the muffin tin! What did I do wrong?
To make sure your brownie bites don't stick, either use cupcake liners or spray each individual cup with nonstick cooking spray; I prefer using cooking spray! Also, be sure to let the brownie cups cool completely in the pan. If you try to remove them too soon, they have the tendency to stick and break apart!
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it’s the most accurate way to bake and it’s how I develop them; cups are not only inaccurate, but they vary in volume worldwide! In any event, if you look at the recipe card underneath the ingredients list, you can click “US Customary” and it’ll convert to volume measures!
Watch How to Make These Muffin Tin Brownie Bites:
*Originally posted on May 22, 2018.*
*Recipe, photos, & post updated on March 10, 2023*
Muffin Tin Brownie Bites with Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
For the Brownie Bites:
- 113 g unsalted butter melted
- 120 g vegetable oil
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 110 g light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs (≈ 200g)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 153 g all-purpose flour
- 85 g cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- flaky sea salt optional
For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 45 g unsalted butter
- 60 g heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to preheat to 350°F (180°C). Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oil, and sugars together until combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until lighter in color, about 4 minutes.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Using a 3-tablespoon spring-loaded scoop, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick should come out with a few wet crumbs (not batter) for fudge-textured brownies.
- Once your brownies have finished cooking, remove the pan from the oven and allow them to cool and set in the pan. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top of brownies immediately after removing them from the oven, if desired.
- Make the salted caramel: Heat the granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a high heat-resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. Be careful not to burn.
- Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter and stir until melted and combined, about two minutes. (Be careful with this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.)
- Very slowly drizzle in the heavy cream while stirring. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool down before using it. (Caramel thickens as it cools.)
- Drizzle some caramel sauce on top of the cooled brownies & enjoy!
ellen
can I make the brownie part ahead and freeze them, but make the caramel sauce after these are thawed out at a later time?
Michael Johnson
Absolutely! Just make sure to wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap again with foil before freezing. 🙂
Also, just as a note, you can make the caramel sauce ahead of time too! You can refrigerate it for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months. The caramel solidifies as it cools, but you can reheat in the microwave or on the stove so it’s liquid again.
Samantha
OMG can't wait to try making these!!!
Michael Johnson
Let me know how they turn out! 🙂