Butterscotch Blondies

Hey! (Hey!) What a wonderful kind of day. If you can learn to work and play. And get along with each other.

When I start building my posts I always type in random things to get spacing in so I can add the photos. Most of the time it is complete gibberish that gets deleted as I actually start to type my words. Today, that is not the case. A simple “hey” immediately led to one of my favorite childhood cartoons—Arthur! It’s likely the recent explosion of Arthur memes that brought the beloved aardvark to the forefront of my mind, and it’s a welcomed intrusion. But I digress.

Today we’re hear to talk about blondies. (Do they have more fun?) One day whilst strolling through Instagram I came across this image from Thomas Joseph, big food honcho for Martha Stewart, and was inspired to do some baking on my own. After all, I had recently developed a homemade brownie recipe that I actually liked, and so I decided to parlay that success into its lighter-hued relative—the butterscotch blondie. Let’s just say I was really happy with my life choices that day.

Butterscotch Blondie Recipe:

• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut (optional)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
2. Melt the butterscotch and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from the stove and whisk in the brown sugar.
3. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla extract. Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder and stir until evenly combined. Fold in the toasted coconut, if using.
4. Pour the blondie batter into an 8-by-8-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
5. It’s best to let the blondies cool completely before cutting into and eating. (They taste great for the next couple of days too.)

These are rich and decadent, so this one pan will serve many. Feel free to add in whatever other ingredients you want. I opted for toasted coconut, but some other great ideas are almonds, walnuts, raisins, dried apricots, etc. Oh, and my “friend” recommends serving it à la mode with a scoop of ice cream on top… I’ll be sure to pass along your gratitude.