Brown Butter Butterscotch Blondies

Happy New Year!

In true Salt and Stone fashion, I thought we should kick off 2022 with some butter, sugar and salt. I kid, I kid. Well…sort of. Because actually, around here, we’ve started the new year with a bit of COVID as its slowly made its way through the entire family (well, except Aaron, which surprise no one). After 6 days of misery, I woke up to blue skies out my window and feeling noticeably, wonderfully better. I am grateful.

As for the butter, sugar and salt…I kindly beg you to add this recipe to your to-do list. It’s decadent sweet buttery goodness is exactly what we need to get through the January blues and even more so if you find yourself in a similar situation as me and stuck at home in a house of sickness.

Two sticks of butter melt on the stove until they turn golden brown, foamy and bubbly. You mix the butter with brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, all-purpose flour, butterscotch chips and flaky sea salt. A little baking time in the oven and your blondies are ready. Simple, super easy and so special. Perfect as an after-school treat for your kids or to bring to a friend (or both, because lets be honest, it’s really tempting to eat the entire pan. Trust me on this, I would know).

Brown Butter Butterscotch Blondies

• 1 cup unsalted butter

• 1 3/4 cups brown sugar

• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract OR 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder

• 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Flaky Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch square pan with cooking spray and parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt and baking powder together.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove the butter from heat and add the brown sugar to the butter mixture, stirring to combine. Allow to cool until you can touch the butter-sugar mixture comfortably and then stir in egg, egg yolk and vanilla. (I love to buy vanilla bean powder on Amazon. I love the look of the vanilla bean flecks as well as the mellow, sweet flavor).

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to combine. Gently stir in the butterscotch chips and mix until well incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle generously with flaked sea salt.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out ‘mostly’ clean. A few crumbs are actually perfect. It’s quite easy to over-bake them so keep a good eye on them at the 30 minute mark and pull them out as soon as the edges are lightly golden and the center is set but still slightly soft.

Allow the bars to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes before cutting into squares. Enjoy!