Browned Butter Toffee Blondies

Hi friends and happy weekend!! :)

Last Sunday afternoon I had the itch to bake...  I mean, I get that itch a lot ;-), but it had actually been a few days since I had baked, and I didn't actually have an occasion to bake for, so I had the luxury of baking just to bake! I love to bake no matter what, but it's often the occasion for which I'm baking that dictates what I make. Not this time. I got to make whatever I wanted! I was in the mood to make a dessert...brownies or bars of some sort (I didn't feel like doing drop cookies)...so I started to sift through (haha, no pun intended) several of my cookbooks. I read several recipes in my Martha Stewart Cookies book before deciding to try her browned butter toffee blondies. Yummm.

The browned butter in this recipe adds a really nice nutty flavor to these bars. I had never baked using the browned butter technique, so it was fun to try something new! Basically you just melt the butter on the stove and cook it for a while (I think I cooked mine for about 15 minutes) until it reaches a golden brown color and smells nice n' nutty. :) This recipe does have walnuts in it, and although I don't often bake with nuts, they were oh so appropriate for this tasty treat!!

The recipe for you!

-1 and 1/4 cups (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
-2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
-2 cups packed light brown sugar
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-3 large eggs
-2 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
-1 cup chopped walnuts (about 4 oz.)
-1 cup toffee bits (I actually used Heath bar milk chocolate toffee bits because that's what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper; butter and flour parchment. In a saucepan on the stove over medium heat, cook the butter until it turns golden brown; remove from heat, and let cool. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, combine the browned butter and both sugars; stir with a spoon or spatula until combined. With an electric mixer, add eggs to the butter and sugar mixture, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla, and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture, walnuts, and toffee bits, and mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before turning out of pan onto a cutting board. Peer off parchment paper, and cut blondies into desired size.

The cookbook says the bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, but I still have a few more left that have been stored for 6 days, and they still taste great. :-D Most of these I shared earlier in the week with coworkers and neighbors. Everyone enjoyed them very much!! The toffee, nutty flavor of these bars really stands out. They're a really nice sweet treat that doesn't involve chocolate. Although I do love my chocolate, there are days when that's not what I'm craving. In those cases, bars like these are perfect. ;-)

Talk to you again soon!