Toast the pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven and toast for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Leave oven on.
Prepare pan: Line a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan with foil. Smear a few drops of canola across the foil or spray lightly with cooking spray.
Dry ingredients: Place flour, baking powder and kosher salt into a small bowl and stir together. Set aside.
Brown butter: Place butter into a 12-inch skillet set to moderate-high heat. Swirl butter around until it melts. Staying at stovetop, continuously stir butter as it cooks. It will bubble, and after about 4 minutes, it will turn brown. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Prepare batter: Add brown sugar in with the browned butter and stir to combine. Add the vanilla extract, corn syrup and eggs, stirring after each addition to combine throughly. Add the dry mix, stirring with a spatula until smooth. Stir in the pecans and ½ cup of milk chocolate chips. Transfer to baking pan and smooth the batter out in an even layer.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate chips and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark.
When the centre is set and top is golden, remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Once cooled, lift blondies out of pan by the foil lining and cut into 24 squares.
Transfer to airtight container to enjoy within 1 week or freeze them.
Brown Butter Blondies
Ingredients
12 tablespoons butter
1¼ cups dark brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup corn syrup
2¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup pecan pieces
½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
sprinkle sea salt flakes
canola oil or cooking spray
Directions
Toast the pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven and toast for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Leave oven on.
Prepare pan: Line a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan with foil. Smear a few drops of canola across the foil or spray lightly with cooking spray.
Dry ingredients: Place flour, baking powder and kosher salt into a small bowl and stir together. Set aside.
Brown butter: Place butter into a 12-inch skillet set to moderate-high heat. Swirl butter around until it melts. Staying at stovetop, continuously stir butter as it cooks. It will bubble, and after about 4 minutes, it will turn brown. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Prepare batter: Add brown sugar in with the browned butter and stir to combine. Add the vanilla extract, corn syrup and eggs, stirring after each addition to combine throughly. Add the dry mix, stirring with a spatula until smooth. Stir in the pecans and ½ cup of milk chocolate chips. Transfer to baking pan and smooth the batter out in an even layer.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate chips and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark.
When the centre is set and top is golden, remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Once cooled, lift blondies out of pan by the foil lining and cut into 24 squares.
Transfer to airtight container to enjoy within 1 week or freeze them.
Brown Butter Blondies
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Dark brown sugar blended with browned butter, eggs and vanilla, baked in a batter studded with toasted pecans and milk chocolate chips…
The answer to the above question? As many as you’d like, but speaking from experience, it’s best to pace yourself. Although this recipe yields two dozen soft, salty-sweet BROWN BUTTER BLONDIES that are easy to make and so darn delicious, go slow. We found ourselves savouring every bite.
You can enjoy them as an afternoon snack with a glass of milk, coffee or tea or sent off in a lunchbox for kids (and grown ups too!). They’ve also received praise when served as a relaxed dessert. Just so we’re clear, make them ASAP!
Here’s what makes them so wonderful:
INGREDIENT LIST
Preparing to test the recipe and shoot the video for this story, I kept thinking the same thing – corn syrup, pecans and milk chocolate chips. Those are the only things I don’t always keep on hand. Beyond that, everything else should be in your pantry and good to go. Nothing complicated, which is excellent! Oh, one more thing about that corn syrup. You’ll have enough left in the bottle to make our famous OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER TARTS too, just saying!
MEET THE BROWNS
This recipe has two moments with the colour brown. The first is where we use dark brown sugar which adds sweet caramel flavouring to the squares. The second happens when we brown butter in a skillet over moderate-high heat. You’ll see how this simple step gives these homemade blondies so much flavour.
BATTER UP
Mixing the batter for these BROWN BUTTER BLONDIES could not be easier. Follow the steps as listed in the instructions below and you’ll have no problems. Wait, there may be one little thing we better mention – best to PIN the recipe to a dessert board or memorize it as I’ve now done. I can barely keep up with the requests for more!
NUTS AND CHIPS
How could we resist, right? There are two things to remember about the pecans and milk chocolate chips. Make sure not to skip the “toast the pecans” step before making the batter. The toasted pecan bits partner perfectly with the flavouring of the browned butter. Regarding the chocolate chips, splurge and pick up a premium variety. You will taste a difference.
SALTY-SWEET
Speaking of milk chocolate chips, never (ever) forget, more is more! Sprinkling an additional handful of milk chocolate chips to the top of the blondies makes them even more scrumptious. We then went for broke and partnered that sweetness with a sprinkle of sea salt flakes on the top. Take your first bite slowly – we really need you to understand why this salty-sweet combo is a win-win, especially on a baked good such as this!
SQUARE DANCE
If you’re like us, you’ll be dancing as you realize your yield here is 24 squares. That’s a lot of joy right there. We suggest allowing them to cool completely before storing them in an airtight container, trying not to consume them in the first 24 hours alone! Joking, but not joking!
As mentioned off the top, our BROWN BUTTER BLONDIES can be enjoyed as snacks or as a relaxed dessert. Of course we have other square recipes we know you’ll love like our TANGY LEMON SQUARES, these healthy BERRY PECAN CRUMBLE BARS and our BUTTER TART SQUARES. We think trying all of them is a good idea!
Toast the pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecans out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer to oven and toast for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Leave oven on.
Prepare pan: Line a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan with foil. Smear a few drops of canola across the foil or spray lightly with cooking spray.
Dry ingredients: Place flour, baking powder and kosher salt into a small bowl and stir together. Set aside.
Brown butter: Place butter into a 12-inch skillet set to moderate-high heat. Swirl butter around until it melts. Staying at stovetop, continuously stir butter as it cooks. It will bubble, and after about 4 minutes, it will turn brown. Remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Prepare batter: Add brown sugar in with the browned butter and stir to combine. Add the vanilla extract, corn syrup and eggs, stirring after each addition to combine throughly. Add the dry mix, stirring with a spatula until smooth. Stir in the pecans and ½ cup of milk chocolate chips. Transfer to baking pan and smooth the batter out in an even layer.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate chips and a sprinkling of sea salt flakes.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark.
When the centre is set and top is golden, remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Once cooled, lift blondies out of pan by the foil lining and cut into 24 squares.
Transfer to airtight container to enjoy within 1 week or freeze them.