Butterscotch Blondies with Brown-Butter Butterscotch Toffee
Servings: 16 people
Ingredients
Brown-Butter Butterscotch Toffee (makes enough for 2-3 batches of blondies)
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams; 3 oz) unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cups (270 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (105 grams) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla extract
- ½ - 1 teaspoon (2-4 grams) flaky sea salt (depending on your preference)
Butterscotch Blondies
- 12 tablespoons (170 grams; 6 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (212 grams) light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (99 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (151 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon (4.5 grams) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) kosher salt
- optional: 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or nuts of choice
- ⅓-1/2 batch (~100 grams) brown-butter butterscotch sauce, toffee, or other caramel sauce
Instructions
Brown-Butter Butterscotch Toffee
- Slice the butter into 15-20 pieces, place in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until melted. As it melts, the butter will foam. Keep cooking the butter after the foam subsides for another 7-10 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. It is done once the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter takes on a nutty fragrance.
- Stir together the brown sugar and heavy cream until no more big clumps of brown sugar remain. The sugar should be basically fully suspended in the cream. Add the brown sugar-cream to the browned butter and bring the sauce to a slow simmer over medium heat, stirring it occasionally. This should not take very long at all. It may look like some of the butter breaks out of the suspension, just keep stirring to reincorporate it.
- Keeping the heat at medium (6/10 on my stovetop), stop stirring and allow the sauce to bubble and thicken for about 5 minutes, until it reaches 245-247 F. [If you are aiming for a butterscotch sauce rather than a toffee, stop cooking after about 4 minutes of constant simmering.]
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Transfer the toffee to a heat-proof shallow dish and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Once it has cooled to lukewarm, use a butter knife to score the semi-solid butterscotch into chunks. At this point, the room-temperature toffee can be used immediately for the blondies, or, the formed toffee pieces can be allowed to cool completely and then stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Butterscotch Blondies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover the bottom and sides of a 9x9-inch baking pan (square or circular) or 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- If using nuts, place on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until golden in the oven.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, brown sugar, and sugar, then beat at medium-low speed until fluffy and lightened in color, about 4-5 minutes. Stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides and bottom.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well (about 60 seconds at least) on medium speed after each addition. After both eggs have been added, continue beating at medium speed another 2-5 minutes, until the batter has gained visible volume and is very pale in color. Add in the vanilla* and beat briefly to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer bowl and beat in at low speed until they are just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix.
- Spoon the dough in to prepared pan and smooth the top. It will look like too little dough for the pan, but continue gently spreading it out, it should be a very thin layer (and if you can't quite reach the edges, that's okay). If using chocolate or nuts, sprinkle these across the top of the dough.
- Scatter the small pieces of butterscotch toffee across the surface of the dough. [Alternatively, if you are using a butterscotch sauce, drizzle the sauce across the top, then use the tip of a knife to gently swirl the sauce into the dough.]
- Bake for 35 minutes (9x9 pan) or 30 minutes (9x13 pan), until shiny golden brown, slightly cracked on top, and just set in the center. Allow to cool in pan for at least 20-30 minutes, then gently and carefully transfer to a metal cooling rack by placing the cooling rack, covered with another piece of parchment paper, on top of the pan and flipping the pan upside down to drop the blondies onto the rack. [There is no other way to remove the blondies without cracking them unless you leave them to cool completely in the pan - even then, they might crack.]
- These are best eaten after a 12 hour rest, and will keep 4-5 days stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Notes
While I think these are far better without add-ins, your opinion may differ! Optional add-ins (or replacements for the butterscotch sauce): ⅔ - 1 cup dark or bittersweet chocolate chunks (150 grams) or chopped toasted nuts (100 grams).