Almost Caramel Surprise Brownies

I've told you before that my Mom is a fantastic cook. It's a genetic thing. Her mom and her sister - also fantastic cooks. My aunt (Aunt B, we call her) has three particular dishes that I adore. I've never asked her for the recipe to any of them because I'm afraid she'll say no and I don't want to experience culinary rejection.
One of her specialties is her lasagna. It is the best lasagna I've ever had in the whole world. Not kidding. Another is her cream puffs. YUM. And last, but in no way least, her caramel surprise brownies.

She often made me a plate of them for my birthday. Oh. My. Goodness. Soft, chewy, warm deliciousness with gooey caramel...my mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Last month I found this brownie suggestion on a blog and after making a batch of them, I decided they were kind of close to Aunt B's Caramel Surprise Brownies. Not quite as amazing, but awfully close (and much easier to make, I'm quite sure.) I've done some tweaking of my own, and I present to you....Almost Caramel Surprise Brownies.
The Recipe:
1 box brownie mix
Ingredients listed on box to make brownies (usually eggs, water, oil)
Caramel ice cream sundae syrup
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box. Add chocolate chips to batter and stir in well. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Heavily drizzle the caramel sundae syrup in lines over batter in both directions. Cut caramel into batter with a knife. (Add more on top of that if you like.) Bake according to directions on box. Cut and serve.

To be honest, my favorite brownie mix in the whole world is the Baker's Corner kind from Aldi. If I don't have that on hand (as I did not when I took these pictures) I buy another store brand. I prefer them to the name brand. I bought the syrup in the squeeze bottle so I didn't have to mess with drizzling it from a spoon out of a jar. Mix the brownie mix according to the package directions - add the oil, eggs, and water.

Stir it well. I just use a spoon - don't mess with the beaters.

Add 1/2 bag of chocolate chips. I did this becuase Aunt B's brownies always had chocolate chunks in them. Someone at work suggested also adding nuts to make it a turtle brownie. If you like nuts in your brownies - go for it.

Spread the batter in the dish.

Drizzle the caramel over the batter. It goes on much faster when it's room temperature. After my bottle was refrigerated, it was harder to squeeze out.

Take a knife and drag it through the batter to "cut" the caramel down into the batter.

Bake! Cut! Serve! Eat! Enjoy!