How do you make a brownie better? You make dulce de leche brownie!
Confused? Read my last post to know what DDL is and how to make this one-ingredient recipe here.
And if you’re hooked to DDL as I am, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Imagine a rich chocolate brownie with the perfect crinkle top, swirled with layers of this deep beautiful toffee confection. Drool! Combined with walnuts, this one is a recipe that you’ll go back to again and again.
Fudgy/ Cakey Brownies
All brownies fall in one of these two camps – fudgy or cakey. This recipe makes cakey or atleast a somewhat-in-between brownie. I’ve realized that DDL being as rich as it is goes better with this cakey version and doesn’t make the brownie denser/too chewy.
Yogurt/ Hung Curd
It’s very important to use hung curd to make this recipe. You cannot use regular curd and get the same results. Use store brought greek yogurt or tie your regular curd in a muslin cloth for 3-4 hours to get a thick yogurt.
Chocolate
A good quality chocolate will make a big difference to the taste of your Dulce de leche brownies. Also, I personally like dark chocolate and used a Ghiradelli bar (60% cocoa) but you could use any of your preference. Chocolate chips in the same proportion will work too.
Crinkle Tops
How often have we chased the perfect crinkle tops in brownies? Specially in eggless brownies, it’s a monumental task to achieve it and when you find a recipe that gives you that, it’s pure gold! Although there is no perfect science to it (unless using eggs) but there are a few things I do of which some or maybe all work together to create the crinkles in this recipe. Again, I’m not sure which of these have helped so I continue to do them all each time I make this recipe.
- Whisking the sugar and yogurt very well together and then letting it rest for at least 10 minutes.
- Heating of the butter and chocolate together is important. I’ve tried this recipe with oil but it did not give the same crinkle crust.
- Mix everything well. I mean at every step. When you add the cocoa to the chocolate, when you add the sugar to the yogurt, when you add the yogurt to the batter, when you add flour. Every single ingredient needs to be whisked well together.
Adding the DDL
I like to add the DDL in two layers in the batter instead of just on the top. It gives a nice even taste of DDL throughout the brownie. To do this, pour half the batter in the brownie pan and drop a few dollops of the DDL on top of it. Use a fork or knife and swirl the DDL gently through the batter. Next add the remaining batter on top and even it out. Again add the remaining DDL and swirl through. Swirling it gives a nice appearance too.
Cutting/ Slicing Brownies
Like all other brownie recipes, it’s very important to let your brownies cool completely before cutting them or they’ll be too crumbly. I let my brownie pan come to room temperature, and then put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before cutting. This ensures nice even slices.
Replacing with Caramel
You could use any caramel sauce in place of DDL to make these. However I haven’t had much success with it so I just work with this recipe because it turns out fantastic each time.
If you try this recipe do tell me in comments how it turned out for you. Follow me on Instagram for a lot more fun.
Some more recipes you may like
- Fudgy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
- Brownie cookies (Brookies)
- The ultimate blondies
- 4 ingredient Biscuit cake
Dulce-de-Leche Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder
- ¼ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ cup Butter
- 170 gms Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate (chopped)
- 1 cup Caster Sugar
- ¾ cup Hung Curd or Yogurt
- 1 cup Dulce De Leche
- ½ cup Walnuts (optional)
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 175 degree C. Line a 8*8 or similiar size pan with baking paper or grease well.
- Mix the flour and baking powder and set aside. In another bowl, add the sugar to the hung curd or yogurt and leave this aside too.
- In a large bowl, add the chopped chocolate and the butter. Heat it in the microwave or over a double boiler, till all the chocolate melts completely. You will need to stir a few times in between to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn. Let this cool.
- Add the cocoa powder to the chocolate (it should not be too hot) and whisk well.
- Add the yogurt and the flour in batches alternately to the chocolate and mix until everything is well incorporated. Fold in half of the walnuts, if using.
- Pour half of the batter into the pan, and drop the dulce on top in big spoonfuls. Using a fork or a knife, swirl the dulce through the batter.
- Drop the remaining half of the batter on top and again top this with the remaining DDL. Make swirls again. Top with remaining walnut pieces.
- Bake for 24-28 minutes. You cannot use the toothpick test on a brownie since the center will not be completely cooked and the toothpick will always have crumbs on it. One way to tell is when the edges of the brownie start to pull slightly away from the pan creating a gap.
- Cut into squares once completely cooled. Store for upto 4-5 days in the fridge.
Wow Excellent I just loved it
Thank you Deepika
I tried this. Texture and everything is great. But my brownies came sour. I’m guessing because of the yogurt. Is there a substitute to that?
Hi Sneha, not really. Just make sure the yogurt is not too sour to begin with. You could also increase the content of the sugar.
Hi can u help wat mode to use to pre heat and wat to bake ur various recipes
Hi Akshita, depending on the oven you use, pre-heat and bake on the same mode. In my Morphy Richards, I use the bottom rod only (bake function) for nearly all my bakes.
Substitute for Castor saugar
Hi Priyanka, you could use measure regular granulated sugar and then powder it.
Is regular sugar to be used in same quantity as caster sugar?
Hi Shreya, yes it is. You could also measure the sugar first and then powder it before using.
Hii just wanted to know if 70% dark chocolate is there so should i reduce the quantity of chocolate?
Hello! No, 70% works perfectly fine. Also because we’re using dulce de leche, the brownies are quite sweet even with a darker chocolate
Which brand we should use dulce de leche ?
Hi Bhanushree, I’ve shared a really easy method to make dulce de leche. However if you want to use a readymade one, most retail brands would work. Use any that you’ve tried before.
Hello chef, i tried your recipe Dulce de leche brownies…its super tasty..but little sweet…can i reduce the quantity of sugar…can i use just half quantity of sugar ?
Hi Vineeta, thank you. Glad you liked it. You can reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup and reduce the quantity of the ddl too by a bit
Came across the recipe as i was looking to try making eggless brownies for a friend. Got overwhelmed how would the delce de leche come out…..my oh my, iam bowled over. Not just did the delce came out yumm as toffee we used to enjoy, it took brownie to that heavenly level. Absolutely keeper recipe….Thanks a bunch Pooja…i always check out your blog if iam looking for ideas to try next
This comment made my day! Thank you so much Harvinder. Your words mean a lot ????
Hey, the batter isn’t flowy. It has the same texture like when you heat the chocolate wrongly like it turns sticky. I wanted to know if I did it wrong or it normally looks like this.
Hi Kishita, the texture for brownie batter is always much thicker and never flowy like cake batter.
Can i skip ddl nd make a normal chocolate brownie with walnuts?
Hi Krishita, you can, but I’d really suggest using Dulce De leche in this recipe.
Heyy ! What is the measurement of your 1 cup ?
Hi kriti! You can refer to this ready conversion guide for measurements https://loveandflourbypooja.com/tips-and-tricks/cups-to-grams-and-ml/
Hi..
1. replacement of DDL?
2. How to store it?
3. Does it become hard?
Thank you in advance!