Hot chocolate sauce, sweet caramel drizzle, salty pretzels all piled high on a sizzling skillet full of brownies. Honestly, can't you smell it now? If you are on the hunt for a show-stopping dessert recipe, this Pretzel and Caramel Sizzler Brownie Skillet is hands down a winner!
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A hot sizzling brownie with ice cream is one of life's simple pleasures and is the perfect dessert for any holiday, any date night, or any dinner party!
This chocolate dish would look lovely as the finishing touch on a girls night dinner party or the star of your 4th of July cook out menu! By using boxed brownie mix it comes together without pesky dishes piling up.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
It's Chocolate!!! I don't need another reason! A chocolate brownie topped with chocolate syrup on a sizzling plate?
Super Easy to Make: This sizzler chocolate brownie is one of the easiest desserts ever! It's a simple mix and bake recipe - completely hassle-free!
Sweet and Short Ingredient List: You won't have to go out of your way to make this delicious sizzling brownie recipe. It includes only 7 simple ingredients, three of which are kitchen staples!
It's perfect for sharing with family and friends!
What Is A Sizzling Brownie?
Great question. Simply, it's a hot brownie with ice cream.
If you've had this sweet sizzler plate at a restaurant then you KNOW what I'm talking about. It's a screaming hot cast iron plate with gooey baked brownies drizzled with chocolate sauce to make it sizzle!
However when it comes to who invented sizzling brownie, from what I could find it was actually a dessert orginating in India!
It's brought to you tableside while still bubbling, steaming, and sizzling! Usually topped with a big ol scoop of vanilla ice cream. & thanks to this easy recipe, having that chocolate sizzler brownie at home is in your future!
Important Ingredients
I chose to use a boxed brownie mix that already had some caramel sauce to go with it. It was the perfect combination of salty, sweet, and creamy.
This way you don't have to mess with so many dishes or individual ingredients. Making it perfect to make with kids! (Just like my 4th of July Snack Mix or Pink Party Mix!)
- Ghiradelli Salted Caramel Brownie Mix
- Pretzels
- Chocolate Sauce
- Vanilla Ice Cream
Thats it! Honeslty, feel free to make your own homemade brownies if you'd like. But, I had an incident when Rosie was little involving a mess of cocoa powder, and so boxed brownie mix works for me just fine!
*See recipe card for quantities!
Step by Step Instructions
This is where it starts to look fancy! But don't be fooled, it's truly just going to take minutes to pull this off sizzling plate brownie.
- Preheat the oven to 425 (or whatever temperature specified on the box mix) then mix together the egg, oil, water, and brownie mix in a mixing bowl.
2. Pour into a greased 9x9 square dish & bake for 45 minutes.
3. Set aside to cool then cut into 4 equal squares. While this is cooling, turn the oven to broil and place your cast iron pan or sizzle plate into the oven to heat up.
4. Remove the sizzler plate and place on a trivet. Then add the brownies, top with ice cream, pour over the chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and crushed pretzels.
PRO TIP! This makes an awesome single serve dessert if you can serve them on a mini sizzling brownie plate! It's perfect for just yourself or as a dinner guest dessert.
Swaps and Substitutions
My favorite combination for a dessert is sweet and salty, but feel free to make some subsitutions to suit your preferences!
- You could always use homemade brownies vs store bought brownie mix.
- Making eggless brownie are easy to make with the box mix. America's Test Kitchen has the BEST resource for how to make eggless boxed brownies but my favorite was the greek yogurt option!
- Chocolate Ice Cream instead of vanilla ice cream would make this a chocolate lover's dream!
- Different flavor of boxed brownie - there are SO many to choose from and I think you could have a lot of fun with this!
So you can see customizing this chocolate dessert would be easy!
Sizzler Brownie Variations
Need some flavor combination inspo for your next brownie sizzler? Try these variations!
- Chocolate Mint Sizzler Brownies - use your favorite boxed mix then add mint chip ice cream!
- White Chocolate Brownies - If you can get your hands on a white chocolate sauce, white chocolate chips, and some vanilla ice cream I think that combo would be amazing. Bonus points if you serve it with a Homemade White Hot Chocolate!
- Red Velvet Brownie Sizzler - use red velvet brownie mix and a scoop of chocolate ice cream for an indulgent red dessert.
- Add Nuts: Walnuts and almonds are great options to add some crunch to the brownie. Just chop them up and mix them into the batter before baking.
- Use Different Chocolate: Dark, milk, white - take your pick! You can use any kind of chocolate chips or chunks in this recipe.
- Switch Up the Toppings: Replace crushed pretzels with crushed Oreos or chocolate-covered peanuts for a different texture and flavor.
Using the red velvet recipe in a Ruby Red Dinner party would be absolutely genius!
Tools You Need
Now this list won't be long because you all know I keep it simple. But here's what you'll need to make these sizzling desserts at home...
I have a few sizes of brownie sizzler plates. Well, they aren't *technically* for brownies but you can find them on Amazon! They are great for things like this dessert but also for fajitas!
Glass mixing bowls are also at the top of my list for baking must-haves! I love this set and I use it almost daily in my kitchen.
I used a glass baking dish for my brownies, they turn out perfectly crispy on the edges which I love!
Tips & Tricks
- Want a cake-like sponge? Add some baking soda to the brownie batter.
- Allow the brownie to cool before cutting it into four EQUAL pieces. It won't crumble and will cut neatly if you do this.
- For gooey, fudgy brownies, slightly under-bake the brownie by a few minutes. It will continue to cook as it cools.
- Add a bit of vanilla extract to the brownie batter for an extra layer of flavor.
Storage & Reheating
Honestly I'd be surprised if you have any leftover at all! But if you do, storage is easy and reheating it is quick!
To store it I kept it in an airtight tupperware container. I would just be sure there was no remaining ice cream on the brownie pieces you pack up. That would make them really soggy.
Then for reheating, pop it in the oven on the sizzler plate at 400 degrees for a few minutes OR my favorite way is a few minutes in the air fryer at 375!
Recipe FAQ
A sizzling brownie skillet is typically served hot on the skillet with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.
Instead of a sizzling plate, heat up a cast iron skillet and set it on a pot holder when it comes out of the oven.
From my research, it looks like the sizzling brownie dessert is a common dish in Indian cafes!
Absolutely! You can use your favorite brand or flavor of brownie mix to make this sizzling chocolate brownie. Just be sure to follow the same baking instructions on the box.
Related Recipes
If you are looking for more recipes to satisfy a sweet tooth, how about these...
If you got a chance to try out this recipe, don't forget to leave a rating and share on Pinterest and Instagram!
📖 Recipe
Pretzel & Caramel Sizzler Brownie Skillet
Equipment
- 1 glass mixing bowl
- 1 9x9 baking dish
- 1 cast iron sizzler plate
Ingredients
- 1 box Salted Caramel Ghirardelli brownie mix
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup chocolate sauce
- ½ cup crushed pretzels
- 2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 (or whatever temperature specified on the box mix) then mix together the egg, oil, water, and brownie mix in a mixing bowl.
- Pour into a greased 9x9 square dish.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Set aside to cool then cut into 4 equal squares. While this is cooling, turn the oven to broil and place your cast iron pan or sizzle plate into the oven to heat up.
- Remove the sizzler plate and place on a trivet. Then add the brownies, top with ice cream, pour over the chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and crushed pretzels.
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