The Best Brownies Ever

Ingredients

• 1 box (16 ounces) fudge brownie mix
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup evaporated milk (divide this: use ¼ cup first, then ½ cup later)
• 2 bags (11 ounces each) caramel bits
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips (divided into two portions)
• Flaky sea salt, for the finishing touch

Instructions

• Preheat your smoker or oven to 350°. (Flavor doesn’t matter so much but you can use your smoker with maple or mild wood pellets — adds a subtle extra layer of flavor.)
• Line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray, and leave some overhang so you can pull the brownies out cleanly later.
• In a medium bowl, mix the brownie mix, melted butter, vanilla and ¼ cup of the evaporated milk. The batter will be thick; that’s normal.
• Press about 1½ cups of that batter into an even layer in the prepared pan to form the base layer. Put the pan in your smoker/oven and bake for about 7 minutes. Edges will begin to set but center still nice and gooey. Let pan rest for about 10 minutes.
• While that’s resting, in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk the caramel bits with the remaining ½ cup evaporated milk until smooth and silky. Stir in the ½ teaspoon of kosher salt.
• Pour that warm caramel sauce evenly over the brownie base. Then sprinkle about 1⁄3 cup (or half of your chips) of the semisweet chocolate chips over the caramel.
• Crumble the remaining brownie batter over top — just bits and chunks so you’ll see some caramel peeking through. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips over that.
• Place the pan back in the smoker/oven and bake until the edges are set — about 20 minutes (but keep an eye on it, depending on your equipment). Remove and let cool on a rack.
• Once mostly cool, cover the pan with plastic wrap or foil, then refrigerate for about 1 hour to let everything firm up.
• Use the parchment overhang to lift the whole block out. Cut into squares. Finish each piece with a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top.