Molly MacRae: I’m
so pleased Penny Warner said yes to being my guest today! I met Penny more than
a decade ago and was starstruck because I’d read all her Conor Westphal
Mysteries and loved them. She’s a prolific and versatile writer, too, so I’ve
had a lot more mysteries to love since then, including mysteries for
middle-grade kids. Welcome to the kitchen, Penny!
I decided to let my husband follow the recipe for Aunt Hazel’s Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies and they came out perfectly (see the smile on his face for proof).
He tweaked the recipe a bit—he’s quite the chef—and
gave it just a hint of espresso. I added the ghosts. Hope you like the brownies
as much as we did. Can you taste the espresso?
Here’s Aunt Hazel’s Top Secret Recipe (of course, all her
recipes are top secret, and many of the ingredients come from her gardens).
Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies
Ingredients
4 oz butter
6 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or 1/2 teaspoon find
grind coffee
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup pecans, chopped (more if you dare)
1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels
3/4 to 1 cup salted caramel sauce
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan
with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, microwave chocolate and butter
until melted. Stir until well blended.
In a separate bowl, add sugar and eggs. Whisk until sugar
is dissolved and the mix is light in color.
Incorporate the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture.
Slowly add the flour into the chocolate and egg mixture. Whisk
until well blended.
Add the mini chocolate morsels and stir. (At this point,
Hazel might add some of the special “herbs” from her secret garden.)
Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan. Evenly spread
the pecans over the mixture and press them into it.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a
toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Using the parchment, remove the brownies to a rack.
Drizzle salted caramel sauce over warm brownies. Cool completely,
cut into 2” squares, and enjoy.
Let me know in the comments (and remember to
include your email address) for your chance to win a copy of Murder at Blackwood
Inn and a ghost pen or cat pen! The winner will be chosen, at random, at
noon on Wednesday 10/22. Penny Warner’s latest adult mystery, Murder at Blackwood Inn, debuted on September 23, 2025 from Crooked Lane Books.
She’s the author of the three-time award-winning middle-grade mystery series, The Code Busters Club, featuring four diverse kids who solve mysteries by cracking codes.
She’s also the author of the award-nominated The Official Nancy Drew Handbook, as well as three other adult mystery series.
the Party-Planner Mysteries, starting with How to Host a Killer Party,
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