Instructions

1. To make the brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper or foil. Lining the pan with parchment or foil paper makes it much easier to lift the brownies out of the pan. If you line with foil, spray the foil with vegetable spray and If you don’t have parchment paper or foil, spray pan with a nonstick spray.
2. In a heavy saucepan, bring butter, sugar, water, and 2 ounces (half) of the chocolate baking bar to a boil, stirring constantly until the butter and chocolate are melted and the sugar is dissolved; set aside and let it cool. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs slightly; add vanilla extract and oil to eggs, and gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture to egg mixture. (If your chocolate mixture hasn’t cooked, it can make your eggs cook like scrambled eggs) We don’t want that! 
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. And the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture (wet ingredients) Mix just until the mixture is combined. Be careful not to over mix. Over mixing will make your brownies tough. Stir in the remaining chocolate bar, chocolate chips, and pecans. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 23 to 24 minutes. The center will be a little bit gooey. Be careful not over bake. Set the brownies on a wire rack to cool completely. 
5. To make the caramel: This is a two-part process but hang in there with me because it will be worth the effort. I promise! We will make the brown sugar caramel first. Here we go!
6. In a heaving saucepan, melt 12 tablespoons of butter (1 ½ sticks) over medium heat. Add the brown sugar (1 ¾ cups) and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in ¼ cup of the heaving whipping cream, vanilla extract, and corn syrup; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool while you caramelize the white sugar. 
7. Combine ⅓ cup water and 1 cup sugar in a heaving saucepan. Add ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar. Brown the sugar on medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved completely, stirring occasionally with a long wooden spoon.  This will take a few minutes. The sugar needs to dissolve before you start to caramelize it.
8. When you see bubbles start to appear, remove the wooden spoon and turn the heat up to medium-high. Do not stir. When the sugar turns an amber brown, remove from heat and immediately add the remaining ½ cup butter. (1 stick, cut into 1-inch cubes) After the butter has melted, gradually add the remaining ¼ cup cream.
9. Add a pinch of kosher salt. About ½ teaspoon. Let the caramel cool for about 10 minutes before combining it with the brown sugar caramel.
10. After whipping the brown sugar caramel and the white sugar caramel together, pour over cooled brownies. NOTE: You may have extra caramel.  If you do, pour the extra into a jar and keep in the refrigerator. The extra caramel is delicious over ice cream! Garnish with pecan halves and chopped pecans. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.  These brownies are rich so you may want to cut them into small bite-size pieces. Enjoy!