Miso Caramel Brownies (Print)

Fudgy brownies with luscious caramel swirls enhanced by white miso, balancing sweet and salty flavors.

# Components:

→ For the Brownies

01 - 7 oz dark chocolate (60–70% cocoa), chopped
02 - 10.5 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
03 - 1 cup granulated sugar
04 - 0.5 cup light brown sugar, packed
05 - 3 large eggs, room temperature
06 - 1 tsp vanilla extract
07 - 0.75 cup all-purpose flour
08 - 0.33 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
09 - 0.5 tsp fine sea salt

→ For the Miso Caramel

10 - 0.5 cup granulated sugar
11 - 0.25 cup heavy cream
12 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter
13 - 1.5 tbsp white miso paste
14 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
02 - In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the sugar, stirring occasionally, until it becomes a deep amber color. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the cream (mixture will bubble). Add butter and stir until smooth. Whisk in miso paste and vanilla until fully incorporated. Let cool slightly.
03 - Melt chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, or microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.
04 - Whisk both sugars into the melted chocolate-butter mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
05 - Sift in flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gently fold until just combined—do not overmix.
06 - Spread half the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Dollop half the miso caramel over the batter and swirl gently with a knife. Top with remaining brownie batter, then swirl in the rest of the miso caramel.
07 - Bake for 32–35 minutes, until the edges are set but the center is still fudgy. A skewer inserted should come out with moist crumbs.
08 - Cool completely in the pan on a rack before cutting into squares.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The fudgy center stays impossibly moist while the miso caramel adds a sophisticated depth that makes people ask for the recipe.
  • It's the kind of dessert that feels like you spent hours in a fancy bakery, but it actually comes together in under an hour.
  • That salty-sweet-umami triangle is genuinely addictive in a way regular brownies just aren't.
02 -
  • White miso paste is your friend, but start with 1½ tbsp and taste as you go—different brands have different salt levels, and you don't want the caramel to become unpalatably salty.
  • The caramel will seem too thick when it cools slightly, but it will continue to soften once baked into the brownies, so trust the process.
  • If you overbake these by even a few minutes, they become cake-like instead of fudgy, so that skewer test is genuinely important.
03 -
  • Use a kitchen scale for the chocolate and cocoa powder—volume measurements for these ingredients are notoriously inconsistent and can throw off your results.
  • The moment your caramel hits that deep amber color, pull it off heat immediately—it will keep cooking slightly from residual heat, and those extra seconds make the difference between perfect and bitter.
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