Butterscotch Blondies with Caramel Icing

Don’t underestimate the powerful effect that icing can have on an already-spectacular dessert, let alone the smell of your kitchen when making it.  For these Blondies, feel free to get creative and substitute white chocolate chips for the butterscotch ones in the recipe below.  The purist in me keeps Blondies blonde, but if you’re feeling crazy, throw the semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips in instead.

Blondie:

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ¾ cups firmly packed brown sugar

¾ cups unsalted butter, softened

3 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups butterscotch chips (optional)

1 cup toasted walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 9 foil-lined pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl for at least a minute, then beat in eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.
4. Gradually beat flour mixture into creamed sugar and butter.
5. Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts (if using).
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 33 – 35 minutes (until center just set, or wooden pick comes out with small crumbs).
7. Cool in pan on wire rack and spread icing (recipe below) over top.
8. Cool cut into squares.
9. Indulge.

Icing:

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tbsp milk or cream

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and then stir in brown sugar and milk/cream.  Boil (very bubbly) for 1 full minute, then remove from heat.
2. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, adding small quantities of milk/cream if icing is too thick to spread

Tips:

• Icing warning: at the stage where you’re ready to spread?  Work quickly- this icing waits for no one.
• Like your squares thinner?  Spread into a 9 x 13 pan instead of 9 x 9, and decrease time to 20 – 25 minutes or so.

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