Brown Butter Blondies

Push aside all other blondie recipes, these Brown Butter Blondies are a game changer. Chewy, gooey, toasty, caramely, brown buttery, butterscotchy, just enough salt - such layered, balanced flavors. The blondie all by itself is already crazy good, and the caramelized white chocolate bits (where have you been all my life??) add little bursts of toasty, sweet flavor. The brown butter echoes this toastiness while adding a bit of nuttiness, and really, what isn't improved by a bit of brown butter? Or a little bit of nuttiness, for that matter 😉

And then, AND THEN, the stout butterscotch sauce. It is so interesting - dark, sweet, buttery, with a smoky, slightly bitter edge from the stout beer. What do you say? Let's make some.

These brown butter blondies began as a curious thought in my mind

There are so many blondie recipes out there, (just search "blondie recipes" on Pinterest) and I really wanted to create a new, unique blondie. I originally imagined these with regular white chocolate chunks, but decided to get carried away on the caramelized white chocolate train and boy am I so glad I did. It totally changes the flavor profile of white chocolate, which can be a bit one-dimensional, in my opinion. Slow roasting the white chocolate (yes, trust me) adds a toasty, caramel flavor and turns it a beautiful golden color. I don't think I'll ever be able to use unadulterated white chocolate again!

Moving on to that stout butterscotch sauce. Wow. Again, so many recipes for caramel and butterscotch sauce, including my own that I've been making for years, but I wanted to do something different.

Ok, onto the blondie recipe

Did I mention these are a one bowl blondie recipe? No mixer needed. You're welcome. Yes, they have a few steps. But if you make your white chocolate and butterscotch sauce the day before, these blondies will come together in minutes.

Also, while I highly encourage you to try this flavor combo, feel free to riff on this recipe all you want. Leave out the chocolate or switch it up to your favorite kind, add nuts, drizzle with melted dark chocolate. I'm already planning to add crushed pretzels to mine next time. (Truth: I meant to add them to this batch but totally forgot.) Your imagination is the limit! Have fun!

Happy baking!

Brown Butter Blondies

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• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 9 large blondies

Ingredients

For the Blondies:

• ½ cup brown butter, still warm (recipe below)
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup caramelized white chocolate, chopped
• Stout Butterscotch Sauce for serving
• flaked sea salt for serving (optional, but highly recommended!)

For the brown butter:

• 1.5 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter

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Instructions

To prepare:

Brown Butter:

1. Place butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Cook until butter melts, foams, and sizzles then the foaming and sizzling subsides. Brush foam to the side and check your color. You want a dark tan/golden color. This whole process takes about 5 minutes. Keep a close eye and use your nose. It will smell nutty and almost like caramel when it's done.
3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. You'll have a little more than the recipe calls for, but I like to plan for a little evaporation. And whatever is left, just put to use anywhere you'd use regular butter: toast, pancakes, waffles, cook some eggs in it, etc.

Blondies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Spray or butter an 8 x 8 square baking dish and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides of the pan. (this is so you can easily lift them out of the pan later)
3. In large bowl, whisk brown butter with sugars until combined.
4. Add egg, vanilla, and salt and whisk vigorously for about a minute.
5. Switch from whisk to wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir to combine. When you have a few streaks of flour remaining, add caramelized white chocolate chunks. Stir to combine.
6. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Wet your hands and gently press dough into an even layer.
7. Place in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The middle will still be quite soft, but this ensures a gooey, chewy middle once they cool.
8. Remove from oven and let cool completely at room temperature before slicing. You can even stash them in the fridge to get really, really clean slices. *see note below
9. When blondies are completely cool, carefully lift out of the pan using the parchment paper overhangs, place on cutting board, and slice into any size you like. I like to slice them evenly into 9 large squares.
10. Serve with a generous drizzle of Stout Butterscotch Sauce and a sprinkle of flaked sea salt.

*If you want to serve these warm, you won't get clean slices, but you can just messily scoop it from the pan to your serving dishes, top with ice cream and Stout Butterscotch Sauce, add a sprinkle of sea salt or some crushed pretzels, then just lean back, relax, and pat yourself on the back for making something so darn delicious.

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: dessert
• Method: baking

This recipe has a lot of moving parts, so read all the way through before you commit to making them. Make sure all of your components are prepared and ready before you begin! Happy baking!