If you want to be the MVP of gameday, you’ve gotta make these caramel crunch football brownies. They’re fudgy brownies topped with a tahini caramel crunch – they’re the perfect combination of salty and sweet, fudgy and crunchy.
Football season calls for snacks that impress, and these caramel crunch football brownies do just that. They start with a rich, fudgy brownie base, topped with a crunchy layer of tahini caramel-coated cornflakes for the perfect sweet-salty contrast. Then, they’re cut into football shapes and decorated with frosting laces to really bring the theme home.
Not only are these brownies bangin’, but they’re also a plan-ahead recipe – they need at least two hours to chill before cutting. This makes them perfect for prepping the night before your watch party!
If you’re short on time, you can also swap in your favorite boxed brownie mix (or any brownie recipe you like) and still make the caramel crunch topping.
This post is all about caramel crunch football brownies for the big game!!
Caramel Crunch Football Brownies
Why you’ll love this recipe
- MVP-worthy: Brownies are a classic football treat, but brownies that look like FOOTBALLS? I mean, come on. It’s a W. It’s screaming super bowl party, screaming game time. You’ll want to get this football-shaped cookie cutter set for these touchdown brownies.
- Satisfying flavor and texture – They’re salty and sweet, fudgy and crunchy. This recipe is a slight variation on my tahini caramel cornflake brownies, one of my favorite recipes I developed in 2024.
- Tahini caramel is much easier to make than regular caramel. Low stress, baby.
- You can use box mix brownies! I love using my favorite brownie recipe as the base, but any other thick brownie recipe, or boxed brownie mixes work swell.
- You can prep them ahead! – Be game-day ready a day before. There’s no better gift to yourself than prepping ahead, IMO.
- When you cut these brownies into footballs, you’ll get small pieces of brownie scraps to snack on. Let’s hear it for a chef’s treat.
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- 1 batch of your favorite brownies, baked in a 9-inch tin: You can use box mix or from-scratch. I’m of course going to recommend my own brownie recipe that I spent years perfecting. My brownies are thick, dark, rich and fudgy, in part thanks to Dutch process cocoa powder. They hold up perfectly to the flavor of the tahini caramel crunch. They’re also incidentally gluten free.
For the caramel crunch:
- Tahini: Tahini is a Middle-Eastern paste made from sesame seeds. It has a deep nutty flavor – kind of like peanut butter. You can find tahini in most grocery stores – it’ll be near the peanut butter!
- Maple syrup: The real stuff only! The caramel won’t caramel with fake syrup.
- Unsalted butter: If you only have salted butter, you can reduce the salt in the recipe by half
- Fine kosher or sea salt: If you only have fine table salt, you can reduce the salt in the recipe by half
- Flaky sea salt: We’ll top the brownies with this. Flaky sea salt is a must-have for any baker. I love Maldon – you can get it on Amazon.
For the football laces frosting:
- Powdered sugar
- Milk or alternative milk: Any kind you have will work!
How to Make Caramel Crunch Football Brownies
This is a high-level overview. Please read the recipe card below for full instructions 🙂
1. Bake brownies – Bake a batch of fudgy brownies (sans sea salt on top) in a 9×9 baking pan lined with parchment paper that hangs over two of the sides. You can also use box mix or another thick brownie recipe.
2. Make the caramel crunch. Once the brownies are baked, mix together tahini, maple syrup and cubed butter in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat until the caramel thickens, and comes off your spatula in thick ribbons. Stir in the salt, then the cornflakes. Transfer to a separate large bowl and let cool for 15-20 minutes.
3. Press the caramel crunch on top of the brownies, and then sprinkle on flaky sea salt. Cover the tin with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours until completely set.
4. Mix together the powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl to make the football laces vanilla frosting, and place into a Ziploc bag or piping bag.
5. Remove the brownies from the tin and use the cookie cutter to punch out football shapes. Pipe laces on the footballs. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for the best caramel crunch football brownies
- Get the football cookie cutters! They’re so cute. I ordered this set from Amazon – for these brownies you can either use the 2-inch cookie cutter (smallest one) for small brownies or the 3-inch (second smallest one) for large brownies.
- Use a 9×9-inch pan. I found an 8×8 pan was a bit TOO thick to easily go through the cookie cutter. 9×9-inch is perfect. You can get a tin on Amazon.
- Line your pan with parchment paper. I do this with all brownies and bars, but it’s especially important for these football brownies. If you don’t line with parchment paper, it’s extremely tricky to remove the brownies.
- Make ahead of time: Since these brownies need time to chill, make them the morning before the big game or the day before. My ideal schedule is to bake the brownies the day before, and press the caramel crunch topping in the morning the day of.
FAQs
You can cut the brownies into squares using a sharp knife for the cleanest cut, and still decorate with football laces!
Absolutely! You can use any homemade brownie recipe or a box mix. Just make sure to line the pan with parchment paper, and ideally bake in a 9×9 pan instead of 8×8.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for 3 months. Let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Yes! Since they need time to chill, they’re a great make-ahead dessert. You can cut and decorate them the day before serving.
More killer Game Day treats!
- I love bars on game day, especially if you’re hosting, since you don’t have to bake multiple rounds of cookies. Go for brown butter chocolate chip blondies, homemade brookies (brownie cookies) or sweet and salty munchies cookie bars (the BEST thing to eat when you have the munchies).
- Cookies are always great to bring! I recommend chocolate cookies and cream cookies or classic salted brown butter homemade chocolate chip cookies.
- If you want a show-stopper, make a Nutella stuffed skillet cookie. You can slice it up and serve it, or if you have a smaller group everyone can dig in.
I hope you love these caramel crunch football brownies for your next football party / football game!! If you make them, please leave a star rating and review below and tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such!
Caramel Crunch Football Brownies for the Big Game
10
large brownies or 20 small brownies30
minutes1
minuteIf you want to be the MVP of gameday, you’ve gotta make these caramel crunch football brownies. They’re fudgy brownies topped with a tahini caramel crunch – they’re the perfect combination of salty and sweet, fudgy and crunchy.
Note: You can also make these brownies without the football-shaped cookie cutter – just cut them into squares and pipe on the laces.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- For the brownies
1 batch of thick brownies, baked in a 9×9 pan lined with parchment paper that hangs over two of the sides. I recommend my recipe for fudgy brownies.
- For the caramel crunch
1 cup tahini
1 cup maple syrup
4 1/2 TBS (63 grams) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 tsp. fine kosher or sea salt (not table salt)
Heaping 1 cup cornflakes
Flaky sea salt (to top)
- For the football laces icing
1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 tsp. milk (oat milk, almond, etc. work, too)
Directions
- Make the caramel crunch: Once your brownies have baked (they can be baked the day before or day of), begin making the caramel crunch.
Add the tahini, maple syrup and butter to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the butter melts, then stir continuously until the caramel thickens and comes off your spatula in thick ribbons.
Stir in the salt, and then the cornflakes. Remove from heat and pour into a separate medium-sized bowl. Let cool for 15 minutes. - Layer the caramel crunch: Evenly press the caramel crunch on top of the brownies. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Cool the brownies: Cover the brownies with foil and pop in the fridge until COMPLETELY set, 1-2 hours depending on when you baked the brownies (hotter brownies = longer time to cool). You can try popping the brownies into the freezer at the end for 15 minutes to speed up the process if need be.
- Make the football laces icing: Mix together the powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl. Add more powdered sugar or 1/2 tsp more milk until you get an extremely thick consistency, almost like caulk. The thicker the icing, the easier it is to pipe.
Using a spatula, scrape the icing into a Ziploc bag or piping bag. Press the icing all the way into the bottom corner of the bag. Cut a VERY tiny hole in the bottom corner. - Cut and decorate the brownies: Once the brownies are set, remove them from the tin using the parchment paper as handles. Take your 3-inch football cookie cutter (for large brownies) or 2-inch football cookie cutter (for small brownies), and cut out footballs, starting as close to the edge of the brownies as possible. You want to get as many football shapes as possible with as little scraps, so cut them close to each other. Press the brownie out of the cookie cutter from the caramel side down, so that you don’t smush the brownies.
You can also cut the brownies into squares if you don’t have a football cookie cutter.
Pipe laces onto the brownies, doing a test run on a napkin first to get your form down.
If you bake these more than a day ahead, keep them in the freezer as the cornflakes can get chewy in the fridge. If you’re baking these a day before, keep in the fridge. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
