Butterscotch Brownies
Butterscotch Brownies or are they Butterscotch Blondies? I am not sure but we kinda love ’em.
Start with browned butter and the usual bar ingredients, add a wallop of butterscotch chips, and top with a sprinkle of diamond flake kosher salt and you’ve got the best bars around.
Call them butterscotch brownies or blondies, whatever you like, just make some and be sure you have a place to take so they get out of your house.
The Brownie VS Blondie
I know a LOT of people call NON-chocolate brownie-like bars, blondies. We never grew up with blondies. I don’t know if they’re a regional thing or what but we had brownies. And we NEVER had blondies, chocolate chip or otherwise.
I do know that growing up in Alaska in the 70s meant limited groceries, limited tv (no cable), although we did have print media like magazines. We perpetually run 1-2 fads behind everyone else. Yes even now.
Doing a little facebook hivemind research gave me a peek into what everyone else remembers too.
- they’re a regional name that you either grew up with or didn’t.
- if you had a certain cooky book from way back when there was a recipe in it for blondies
- some families DID make them because they were a family recipe
- blondies rose in popularity up here by the late 80s early 90s and were starting to make the rounds up here.
When I dropped butterscotch blondies on my family the other day they were as confused as I would have been as a kid. I had to explain what they were to get anyone to even try them.
The smell alone was enough to convince ME to enjoy them. I literally had to say “you know a bar, like these cake mix brownies but not chocolate” to one kid to get him to try it. And he remained unswayed and only tried a little bite. My kids sometimes!
These Butterscotch Brownies are as dangerous to have around as some of my other favorite cookie recipes such as Texas Sheet Cake Cookies, OH MY! OR these Orange-Cinnamon Millionaire Bars which are too tasty!
I had to send them to work with my husband or I’d have inhaled them. More of them anyway!
Butterscotch Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- kosher salt
Instructions
- preheat the oven to 350˚
- melt the butter over medium heat, once melted keep it on the heat until it starts to brown up a bit, this give it a rich nutty flavor
- meanwhile mix flour, salt, and baking powder together, set aside
- prep your 8X8 pan as well, either butter it generously OR line it with foil or parchment paper
- once the butter is browned pour off into a mixing bowl and set it aside for a few minutes to cool, you don't want to add the eggs to it while it's too hot and scramble them
- measure the brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and stir until combined, it will be thick, then add to the cooled butter, mix until well combined
- add the flour mixture, stir to combine, add the butterscotch chips and chopped pecans and stir again
- press into your prepared baking pan
- sprinkle lightly with kosher salt if you like that salty sweet combo
- bake at 350˚ for 30-35 minutes or until set, they will remain dense and soft while cooking but will firm up as they cool
- to cut gently lift out of the pan and cut on a cutting board
I love blondes but my guys are strictly plain fudge brownie types. I like to get adventurous and add all the little bits I have leftover in my baking pantry. Nuts, different flavored chips, …..but they grumble. These look amazing!
I like to do that too! I’m always met with WHY??
These sound amazing, but I have a question. Where in the recipe is the browned butter added? Perhaps I am overlooking it.
You’re right, it should have said pour the butter into a mixing bowl and let it cool, then mix the brown sugar and eggs together and add them to the cooled butter