DULCE DE LECHE BROWNIE

Un Besito de Dulce de Leche

This is not your normal brownie. This is THE brownie of all the brownies. May I present to you this tripled layered Dulce de Leche Brownie; Chocolate base, crunchy Dulce de Leche center, all topped with a melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese layer. You will never want to go back to a regular brownie! 

Dulce de Leche Brownie served on a little serving platter. Digestif in the background
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Layers of Dulce de Leche Brownie

How I came up with this Brownie recipe?

As you might know, I lived in Argentina for 1.5 years. And Dulce de Leche is BIG in Argentina. If we speak of the Holy 3, it’s basically Diego, Dios and Dulce de Leche =) 

So I wanted to create a cake-like dessert recipe that includes Dulce de Leche. And if you’ve ever tried, you know that Dulce de Leche is a super sweet, caramel-like bomb that needs strong counterparts. So I combined it with an indulgent, moist chocolate brownie base, a crunchy nutty center with hazelnuts, and a creamy cheese topping with orange zest to make it a little fresher and to feature yet another texture. 

I love to call these ‘Un besito de Dulce de Leche’, even though I must say it’s rather a BESOTE of Dulce de Leche. 

Dulce de Leche Brownie served on a little serving platter. Digestif in the background
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Dulce de Leche Brownie

Should you make Dulce de Leche yourself?

I like to make my recipes from scratch with as little store-bought, pre-made ingredients as possible. But for Dulce de Leche I make an exception. Store-bought Dulce de Leche usually is made-at-home quality and tastes very delicious. Nowadays, it’s available in a lot of stores worldwide. If you can’t find any Dulce de Leche, replace it with caramel sauce (with as thick of a consistency as you can find). 

These are little brownie bombs that will explode in your mouth! Thank you Argentina for this treat!

Dulce de Leche Brownie served on a little serving platter. Digestif in the background
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DULCE DE LECHE BROWNIE

Un Besito de Dulce de Leche
Course Con el Cafe, Dessert
Cuisine Argentinian
Keyword Caramel, Chocolate Brownie, Cream Cheese Dessert
Prep Time 1 hour
Total Time 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings 32 servings

INGREDIENTS

Chocolate Brownie Layer

  • 190 g butter
  • 190 g dark chocolate
  • 150 g cane sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 90 g all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp of water
  • 20 g cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp orange liqueur e.g. Cointreau
  • 1 pinch of salt

Dulce de Leche Layer

  • 180 g hazelnuts peeled
  • 480 g dulce de leche

Cream Cheese Layer

  • 300 g cream cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • 50 g white sugar
  • 1 small orange zest and juice of it
  • 3 drops bitter almond extract
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

For Serving

  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder

INSTRUCTIONS

Chocolate Brownie Layer

  • Line an oven-proof, square baking pan with borders (e.g. gratin pan, approx. 30 x 40 cm) with parchment paper and butter completely, including the borders. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius (356° Fahrenheit).
  • In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over a very low heat.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk eggs with sugar using a hand whisk until light and fluffy and at least doubled in volume. Then, add the chocolate-butter mixture and continue whisking until well-integrated. Add the flour, coffee, cocoa, orange liqueur and salt, and mix.
  • Fill the baking tin with baking paper, bake at 180 degrees for approx. 20 minutes and let cool.

Dulce de Leche Layer

  • In a small, non-stick frying pan, toast the hazelnuts on medium heat while constantly stirring, until they give off a nutty aroma. Transfer onto a cutting board and roughly chop them.
  • In a medium bowl, mix dulce de leche with toasted hazelnuts and spread evenly over the brownie base using a spatula.

Cream Cheese Layer

  • In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cream cheese with the eggs, sugar, orange zest, flour and bitter almond extract using a hand whisk. Pour over the dulce de leche layer.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes on the center rack of the preheated oven at 180° Celsius (356° Fahrenheit), until the cream cheese layer has set. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

For Serving

  • Remove the brownies with the parchment paper from the pan, cut into small squares of approx. 2x2cm (0.79×0.79 inch). Sprinkle them with cocoa powder just before serving.
  • Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for about 5 days.

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I’m Andrea – chef, recipe creator and the soul of this blog. I’m all about flavorful dishes that you make with passion to treat yourself and your loved ones.

My goal is to create a community to share in our love of food. I also aim to inspire you to try new things and to level up your cooking, so you’ll have all the skills you need to create food that not only nourishes your body, but also your soul.

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