Chocolate Turtle Brownies

A word about my friend Mary Ann. She makes magic happen in the kitchen. Whether its her famous Christmas chocolates, sexy cornbread or just plain ol' chocolate chip cookies, she is renowned for her culinary prowess. This is her brownie recipe and I first had them at a Death By Chocolate party Staci and I hosted a few years back. I am ashamed to say this is the first time I've made them. Don't worry, I'll repent at least once a month by baking a batch. I had to hurry and take some over to various friends' homes or else I was at high risk of eating the whole pan. We're talking me, a fork and a 9x13 of chocolate/caramel goodness. So I did what any true friend does, I decided to share the calories around the neighborhood. This is a keeper.

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate chips, divided (I used milk chocolate)
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I prefer pecans so that's what I used)

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and butter together, whether in the microwave or stovetop. Stir till smooth. Stir in eggs, add flour, sugar, vanilla and soda- stir well. Spread batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with remaining chips and all the nuts.

Bake 350 20-25 minutes.

In her original recipe, its says to drizzle the caramel topping over the warm brownies and I decided right then, I needed to double it, because I didn't want a "hint" of caramel, I needed a blanket of caramel. So here is the original version, know that I doubled it and it was caramel heaven.

Microwave 12 caramels and 1 tbsp milk on high for 1 minute- stir. Microwave at additional 10-15 second intervals until smooth. Pour over warm brownies. Let cool completely in pan before cutting into bars.