Caramel Brookie Cups — The Dessert I Threw Together for a Volleyball Team
I Remembered at Noon. The Team Was Coming the Next Day.
Caramel brookie cups are what happens when you remember at noon on a Monday that you volunteered to feed twenty-five volleyball girls lunch the very next day. Lunch itself was handled — my No-Peek Chicken and Rice, a big spinach and strawberry salad, and rolls. But twenty-five hungry girls were going to want dessert, and I had one afternoon and a grocery store to work with. So I built these: a chocolate chip cookie bottom, half a caramel square tucked in the middle, and fudgy brownie batter spooned over the top, all baked in a cupcake liner.
🍰 This one will soon find itself in my collection of desserts for a crowd — the big-batch sweets I actually make when there are a lot of people to feed.
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Watch me make these caramel brookie cups from start to finish — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
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• These are the whole reason this dessert travels. Nobody has to pry anything sticky out of a pan, and I hand them out one at a time.
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Caramel Brookie Cups
Start CookingIngredients
- 1 package chocolate chip cookie dough 24 pre-cut squares, refrigerated
- 1 box brownie mix about 18 oz
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 12 soft caramel squares unwrapped and cut in half
- 24 Reese's Miniature peanut butter cups unwrapped (optional in place of the caramel squares)
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt optional
- Avocado oil spray
Don’t Want to Plan? I Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Equipment
Method Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line regular-size muffin tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray the inside of each liner with nonstick cooking spray.
- Let the cookie dough come to room temperature. Place one cookie square in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press it down into an even layer, like a little crust.
- Place half a caramel square in the center of each cookie dough layer, unwrapped and cut in half (or swap in 24 mini Reese's peanut butter cups — see Notes), pressing it slightly into the dough.
- Mix the brownie batter according to the package directions, using the oil, eggs, and water listed above.
- Spoon about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of brownie batter over each caramel, covering it completely. A cookie scoop keeps this consistent. The cups should be no more than about two-thirds to three-quarters full so they don’t overflow.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, checking at 18. The brownie tops should look set and the edges should be baked. When testing for doneness, insert a toothpick toward the outer edge rather than through the caramel center. A few moist brownie crumbs are perfect.
- If desired, sprinkle each warm brookie cup with a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt.
- Let them cool in the muffin pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Leave them in their liners and cool completely before storing.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Cupcake liners make these crowd-friendly. They’re easy to transport, serve, and clean up, and there’s no fighting sticky caramel to get 24 desserts out of muffin tins.
Make them ahead. These can be made the night before. Once completely cooled, cover tightly and store at room temperature.
Don’t refrigerate unless necessary. Refrigeration will make the cookie layer and the caramel center firmer.
The flaky salt is optional, but delicious. Just a tiny sprinkle balances all that chocolate and caramel sweetness. Make them Reese’s Brookie Cups: Skip the caramels and press one unwrapped Reese’s Miniature peanut butter cup into the center of each brookie instead — 24 total, one per cup. Everything else stays the same, including the bake time. The flaky sea salt on top is even better with peanut butter than it is with caramel, so don’t skip it.
Four Weeks of Family-Friendly FoodWhen people gather, I cook. Four weeks of the dinners my crowd asks for — planned, tested, and shopped for. Come see what’s in the cookbook →Why These Caramel Brookie Cups Work
Caramel brookie cups work because every hard part is already done for you at the grocery store. The cookie dough comes pre-cut into twenty-four squares, so there is no scooping and no guessing — one square goes in the bottom of each liner and you press it flat with your thumb. The brownie batter is a box mix stirred up in one big mixing bowl with oil, eggs, and water. There is no creaming butter, no measuring flour, and nothing to chill. The whole thing is assembly.
The caramel is the part I want to talk about. I had seen this idea floating around with a Reese’s cup in the middle, but I was cooking for a group I did not know well, and I was not about to take a chance with peanut allergies. Oreos were the other suggestion and they just did not excite me. Then I thought about caramel, and that was it. I use the regular little wrapped caramel squares and cut each one in half — half a caramel gives you that gooey center without leaking out the sides or turning into a big chewy plug once the brookies cool.
The one thing to pay attention to is doneness, because you have a molten caramel sitting right in the middle of every cup. A toothpick pushed through the center will come out wet every single time and tell you nothing. King Arthur Baking says the same thing about testing brownies — you are looking for moist crumbs and no raw batter, not a clean toothpick. So test toward the outer edge instead, where it is only brownie, and pull them when the tops look set.
A Few Things That Make Caramel Brookie Cups Even Easier
- Let the cookie dough sit out first. Cold squares straight from the fridge crack instead of pressing. Give them fifteen or twenty minutes on the counter and they flatten into the bottom of the liner with one push of your thumb.
- Half a caramel, not a whole one. I tried this both ways. A whole square is too much — it leaks out the sides while they bake and goes stiff and overly chewy once they cool. Half is exactly right.
- Do not fill the cups past two-thirds. The brownie batter climbs while it bakes. Two-thirds to three-quarters full gives you a domed top instead of a mess running over the edges of the pan.
- Salt your caramel brookie cups while they are warm. A tiny pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each one, right out of the oven, is what keeps all that chocolate and caramel from being one flat note of sweet. It sticks best while the tops are still hot.
- Make them the night before. That is exactly what I did. Cool them completely, cover them tight, and leave them on the counter — they are just as good the next day, which is the entire reason this recipe exists.
Make Them Reese’s Brookie Cups Instead
Here is the version I did not make that first time. Everything else about caramel brookie cups stays exactly the same — same cookie dough on the bottom, same box of brownie batter over the top, same 350°F and the same 18 to 22 minutes — except you press one unwrapped mini Reese's peanut butter cup into the center of each one instead of half a caramel square. Twenty-four cups, twenty-four miniatures, one apiece. You do not cut these in half the way you do the caramels; a miniature is already about the right size.
The reason I waited is the same reason I would tell you to stop and think for a second before you make them. That first batch went to a room full of girls I did not know, and peanut allergies are not something I am willing to guess about when I am feeding somebody else’s kid. At my own table I know exactly who I am cooking for, so the Reese’s version is fair game here — and it is very good. The peanut butter softens into the brownie instead of running for the edges the way caramel can, so these hold their shape a little better and they are less sticky to hand out.
Do not skip the flaky sea salt on this one. It is optional on the caramel version and I would call it close to required here, because salt and peanut butter belong together and a small pinch keeps all that chocolate from going flat. Otherwise the rule is simple at my house: caramel is what I take somewhere when I do not know the crowd, and Reese’s is what I make at home for my own people.
Caramel Brookie Cups FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
What temperature and how long do I bake caramel brookie cups?
Bake caramel brookie cups at 350°F for 18 to 22 minutes, and start checking at 18. The brownie tops should look set and the edges should be baked through. Because there is caramel in the center, test with a toothpick toward the outer edge rather than straight down the middle — a few moist brownie crumbs mean they are done.
Why is my toothpick always wet in the middle?
Because you are hitting the caramel. That center stays molten no matter how long these bake, so a toothpick through the middle will read wet even on a fully baked cup. Test toward the outside edge where it is only brownie, and go by the look of the tops.
Can I make caramel brookie cups ahead of time?
Yes, and I recommend it. I made my caramel brookie cups the night before I needed them. Let them cool all the way, cover them tightly, and store them at room temperature. Do not refrigerate unless you have to, because the cold firms up both the cookie layer and the caramel center.
Can I use something other than caramel in the middle?
You can. Peanut butter cups and Oreos are both common, and either one works the same way — set it on the cookie dough and cover it with brownie batter. I went with caramel because I was feeding a group and did not want peanuts anywhere near it, and honestly because caramel is the one that excited me.
Do I have to use cupcake liners?
I would not skip them. Liners are what make these travel — they come out of the pan clean, they stack in a container, and you can hand them to people one at a time without anybody fighting sticky caramel out of a muffin tin. Spray the inside of each liner lightly before you fill it.
Can I freeze them?
Yes. Caramel brookie cups freeze well. Cool them completely, leave them in their liners, and freeze them in a single layer before stacking them in a freezer bag or container. Thaw them on the counter. The caramel center softens right back up as they come to room temperature.
How do I scale caramel brookie cups up for a bigger crowd?
The recipe as written makes 24, which is one package of cookie dough and one box of brownie mix. To double it, double both and use four muffin tins or bake in batches — that is what I did in the video, because I was feeding a whole volleyball team and wanted forty-eight. Everything else stays exactly the same.
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Ingredients
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More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
- Brownie Trifle — another box of brownie mix turned into something nobody believes started in a box.
- Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars — the same cookie dough idea, pressed into one pan instead of twenty-four cups.
- Box Brownie Sundae — one little trick that takes a pan of box brownies somewhere else entirely.
- Simple Cherry Cheesecake Bars — when you need squares that cut clean and feed a long table.
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Caramel Brookie Cups — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.