Dulce de Leche "Baked" Brownie

This was an easy decision for me. I had been wanted to make something using the dulce the leche in my fridge before the temptuously tacky stuff started to crystalize. I had also been wanting to try my hand at the famous "Baked" brownie. You know, the Oprah-acclaimed and America's test kitchen-applauded brownie from those guys up in NYC. Well, combine and conquer. The subsequent dulce de leche brownies are probably some of the best I've had and the brownie recipe itself definitely merits the approvals its been given. I made these in an 8x8 pan and did some modifications to compensate for the change in quantity since its not exactly half. If you want to use the original recipe (9x13), here it is courtesy Brown Eyed Baker.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 c. AP flour
1 T. cocoa powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. butter (unsalted)
3/4 tsp. instant espresso powder
5 oz. semisweet chocolate (I used ghiradelli chips)
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. Dulce de Leche

HOW ITS DONE:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8'' pan. (or use buttered parchment paper)
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt; set aside.
3. At low heat, combine butter and espresso powder in saucepan and heat until butter has melted. Add chocolate, and stir constantly until smooth.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in both sugars until combined. Let cool slightly.
5. Whisk in eggs and vanilla and stir until no longer grainy-looking.
6. Add flour mixture to batter and stir just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Pour half of batter into prepared pan; Layer dulce de leche over this. Pour in the rest of the batter.
8. Bake 28 to 30 minutes. Don’t over bake! Let cool completely. Or not. I didn't.