Smitten Kitchen’s Blondies

Blondies are butterscotch-flavoured bars that have a texture similar to brownies. I can practically guarantee these will become one of your go-to baking recipes from this day forth once you see how simple and customisable they are!

Blondies (butterscotch bars)

This is Smitten Kitchen’s Blondie recipe, verbatim. Which, if you are as much of a Smitten Kitchen fan as I am, is all you need to know to head into the kitchen, immediately 🙂

It is very rare for me to share a recipe without fiddling with it in some way. But when a recipe is as simple and good as this, and when I’ve tried to fiddle and failed, and tried a number of other blondie recipes which were more involved yet not as good, there’s just no need to muck around.

So thank you Deb, for your brilliant Blondie recipe! (Also thank you for your Blueberry Pie, New York Crumb Cake and Challah recipes. 🙂 )

What Blondies taste like

Blondies are apparently named as such because they are the pale version of chocolate brownies. Like brownies, they are moreishly chewy in the middle, have faintly crispy edges and the signature paper-thin crackly surface.

But rather than tasting of white chocolate, they are butterscotch flavoured. And this particular recipe actually, really tastes of butterscotch thanks to the addition of browned butter rather than regular melted butter. Which means … extra-nutty, buttery flavour simply by simmering melted butter for a few minutes before mixing it into the batter (seriously, that’s all you have to do).

I promise it’s worth it. Superior flavour for very little extra effort. I literally just plonk the butter in the saucepan then while it’s simmering, I line the pan and measure out the other ingredients. Very efficient workflow!

Ingredients in Blondies

Ignore the white choc chips and walnuts. Mentally replace with what you’ve got on hand. This is an excellent one for rounding up leftovers fruit and nuts to throw in!

• Butter – Just unsalted butter, straight out of the fridge. No need to soften, how good is that!

• Brown sugar – Either light brown sugar or regular brown sugar. Light brown sugar will make the Blondie paler, but regular brown sugar gives it a nicer butterscotch flavour. White sugar won’t result in the same flavour.

• Plain flour / all-purpose flour – Not self raising flour which has baking powder built in which would make it puff up.

• Egg – Just one “large egg” (which is ~50g / 2 oz each, sold in cartons labelled “large eggs” or are ~600g/1.2 lb for a dozen carton). Fridge cold is fine, no need to bring to room temp.

• Vanilla extract – For flavour. Vanilla extract trumps vanilla essence (which is imitation). I personally wouldn’t waste vanilla beans on this recipe – too precious!

• Salt – Cooking salt / kosher salt (coarse salt grains) for mixing into the batter and sea salt flakes (optional) for sprinkling on the surface.

• Add ins – Use 1 1/2 cups of anything you want that you think will go well with butterscotch / caramel flavours! Here are some suggestions

  • White chocolate chips and walnuts (pictured) – nod to traditional chocolate brownies

  • White chocolate and macadamia nuts – tried this, it’s stellar (think – easier version of Byron Bay copycat White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies)

  • White chocolate and hazelnuts or almonds – planned for my next batch

  • Sultanas, raisins, chopped prunes/dates- I see Sticky Date Pudding flavours

  • Dried apples – don’t try to tell me apple + caramel doesn’t work!

  • Peanuts – peanuts with caramel, I mean, come on! 100% hit every time!

  • Chocolate chips and peanuts – a chocolate peanut butter cake in bar form (that’s 5x faster to make!)

  • Biscoff or other cookie chunks – why not? You get cookie chunks in ice cream!

  • Raspberries or blueberries! Fresh or frozen. I think raspberries would be particularly great.

I’m going to stop there otherwise I’ll never get onto the making part. 🙂 But, you get the idea. If it goes with caramel, you can add it!

How to make Blondies

In case you missed my mini rant above – please don’t skip the browned butter. It’s no harder than simmering a saucepan of water but it infinitely improves the flavour!

Brown the butter

1. Simmer butter – Melt the butter, preferably in a silver saucepan*, over medium high heat. Once melted, lower the heat if needed so the butter is simmering gently. It will spit gently (don’t worry, it’s minor, not scary) and will go foamy.

   * Non black saucepan works best so you can check for golden specks (next step) which indicates it’s done.

2. How to tell browned butter is ready – Simmer the butter for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so, until it smells nutty and you see little golden specks (you’ll need to wade through a layer of foam to check).

   As soon as it’s done, pour it into a mixing bowl, being sure to scrape in all the golden bits!

make the batter

3. Add sugar into the butter, mix, then let it cool for 3 minutes.

4. Finish batter – Add the egg and vanilla, then mix. Add the flour and salt, then mix again. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts (or whatever add-ins you are using) and mix through. It will be quite a thick mixture, almost like roll-able cookie dough.

bake!

5. Bake – Scrape and press the mixture in a 20cm/8″ baking paper lined pan (parchment paper). Make sure there’s plenty of paper overhang so you can lift it out rather than flipping it upside down.

6. Bake for 25 minutes until the edges are tinged with light golden and there’s a paper-thin crackly surface (like…brownies!). They will feel a little undercooked in the middle – that’s good! They are meant to be a little sticky and chewy inside. Nobody likes dry blondies!

   Sprinkle with salt flakes (if using). Let them cool for 10 minutes in the pan, lift out using the paper overhang then cool for a further 10 minutes before cutting into 16 normal squares or 9 very large pieces. (You could skip the second 10 minute cooling time if you’re impatient but the cutting will be a bit smeary. Yes, of course I am speaking from experience here. Patience is not my greatest virtue!)

Grab and devour, or make it dinner-party worthy

Take them to book club. Serve for morning tea. Tuck them into lunch boxes. And take on road trips!

I also have a vision of how I’d turn it into a plated dessert, for occasions where you want to serve it “properly” rather than eating it with your hands. I’d serve it on a plate, ever so slightly warmed, with a scoop of ice cream on top, a sprinkle of chopped nuts, and a drizzle of hot butterscotch sauce (use the recipe from here).

Absolutely dinner party worthy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Blondies

Author: Nagi

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Cooling: 10 minutes mins

Sweet Baking

Western

4.91 from 32 votes

Servings16

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. Think – butterscotch flavoured brownies! Thin crackly surface (like brownies!), crispy on the edges, chewy inside. Ridiculously easy, outrageously addictive, wonderfully versatile – add in whatever you want, see the Ingredients section in the post for ideas. I love the combination of white chocolate and walnuts or macadamia nuts.

Don't skip the browned butter step. It really makes it. Recipe source: Smitten Kitchen, one of my most trusted recipe sources. A rare recipe where I have changed nothing!

Ingredients

CupsMetric

• ▢ 125g/8 tbsp (1 US stick) unsalted butter (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 cup brown sugar , (light brown sugar also ok, but not dark brown)
• ▢ 1 large egg (~50g/2 oz)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup flour , plain/all-purpose
• ▢ 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt)

Add-ins – 1 1/2 cups “anything you want”, I used:

• ▢ 1 cup white chocolate chips
• ▢ 1/2 cup walnuts , roughly chopped

Optional sprinkling:

• ▢ 1/4 tsp sea salt flakes

Cook ModePrevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Grease a 20 cm/8" square pan with butter and line with baking paper (parchment paper).
• Toast walnuts (Note 3) – Spread the walnuts on a tray and roast for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
• Browned butter (don't skip this step): Place the butter in a silver saucepan (not black) over medium high heat. Once melted, lower the heat to medium so it's simmer gently. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring every now and then (it will go foamy), until it smells nutty and you see little golden specks in the butter. Immediately pour the butter and all the golden bits into a bowl.
• Batter: Add the sugar into the hot butter and mix to combine using a wooden spoon. Leave to cool for 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until combined. Add the flour and salt, and mix to combine. It will be very thick, almost like roll-able cookie dough. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix through.
• Bake: Scrape into the prepared pan, spread and smooth the surface (I use my hands). Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are lightly tinged with gold and the surface has a paper thin "crackly" layer.
• Rest in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting onto a cutting board. Cool for at least another 10 minutes (else it's still a bit too soft and smeary), sprinkle with salt flakes (if using). Cut into 16 squares or 9 giant squares, then devour!

Recipe Notes:

1. Butter – 1 US stick / 8 tbsp is actually 115g, to be precise. But this recipe works with 125g and it’s a handier amount for us Aussies because it’s half a standard 250g block of butter, most of which come with helpful 50g markings on the paper wrapping. So you can just cut the block in half!

2. Add ins – See in post for a list of other suggestions. White chocolate chips and walnuts or macadamia nuts is my favourite.

3. Chocolate chips – Like the butter, I’ve rounded up for convenience! 1 cup choc chips = 190g, but here in Australia we have 200g standard packs. Just use it all, nobody will complain!

4. Toasting nuts – Whatever nuts you use, I highly recommend popping them in the oven for a bit until they smell nutty and tasty. Improves the flavour and texture, and will also revive slightly stale nuts.

Leftovers will keep for 5 days in an airtight container. Refrigerate if it’s hot where you are, but always eat at room temperature!

Keywords: blondies, butterscotch brownies

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Dozer had a very exciting week this week!! Who can guess where this is?? 🙂

Then after a hard morning of work, I dropped by Fabricca bread shop in Rozelle (Sydney) on the way home to treat myself to a really good deli sandwich only to have Dozer “serenading” me and fellow diners as we tried to enjoy our lunch. How dare I eat in front of him without offering him a bite. How dare I! 😂