Brown Butter Blondies

Ready for a delightfully chewy bar with the moist delicious caramel flavor? Bake these bars!

Last week, my beautiful daughter came for a visit. While that was super sweet in and of itself, we also stumbled upon a new recipe that tastes like love. Browning the butter in this recipe adds a deliciously buttery and nutty flavor.

Brown butter (buerre noisette) is a classic French staple in the kitchen. By gently cooking the butter in a saucepan on the stove the flavor of the butter takes on a caramel flavor. Cut the butter into tablespoon size slices and put into a stainless saucepan. In less than 10 minutes, the butter will melt, foam, and sizzle as the milk fats toast up. By gently cooking the butter into a nutty and caramelized flavored ingredient you can use it in a sauce over pasta, meat, or vegetables. It gives perfect flavor in desserts, or in this case, cookies.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is how versatile it is! The bars are topped with a swirl of preserves before baking, and you can really get creative with what you add. Feel free to stir in your favorite toasted nuts and jam—think almonds, chocolate chips, and cherry compote, or maybe raspberry preserves with white chocolate chunks! Every time I’ve made these, I’ve switched up the combo, and it’s always a hit. My latest batch had toasted pecans and blackberry preserves, and they were absolutely delicious! Their versatility means you can add in or substitute whatever ingredients you have on hand, according to your personal tastes.

BROWNING BUTTER TECHNIQUE

Browning butter is a quick and simple process, so you’ll want to stay on top of it. Start by placing the butter in a light-colored pan and set your stove to medium heat—this helps the butter cook evenly, which is key to getting it just right. As the butter melts, stir it to keep it moving. Once it’s fully melted, you’ll notice the butter will start to foam and sizzle around the edges—keep stirring! In about 5–8 minutes (depending on how much butter you're using), it will turn golden brown. The foam will start to calm down, and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will toast. That’s when you’ll catch the deliciously nutty, rich aroma.

But remember, there’s only a few seconds between brown and burnt butter, so once you see those brown specks at the bottom, remove it from the heat immediately and pour it into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking. Keep an eye on it—you’re so close to that perfect, nutty flavor!With two large, farm-fresh eggs, plus another yoke, the batter is fluffy and bakes up chewy.

Ready in 45 minutes

Have a craving for something extra delicious? Try these Brown Butter Blondies! Guaranteed to satisfy.

RECIPE

18 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 18-20 pieces

2 large eggs + 1 large yoke

1.5 cups brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.5 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup preserves

Juice of half a lemon (approximately 1 Tablespoon)

1 cup toasted, chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare a 13” X 9” pan by baking spray, then line with parchment paper, leaving some excess paper on two sides of pan, to aid in removing bars from pan once they’re baked and cooled.

Toast nuts in a saucepan and set aside to cool.

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a non-reactive, light-colored saucepan (stainless steel works great!), melt the butter over low to medium heat. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on it as it heats up—you’ll notice it start to sizzle and foam. When the foam begins to subside and you see little brown bits forming at the bottom, take it off the heat right away. Transfer the butter to a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking, then let it cool for about 2 minutes.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and brown sugar together until smooth, combined, and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter while continuing to beat on medium speed—be careful not to splash the hot butter! Once it’s all mixed in, add the vanilla extract and give it one more good whisk.

Stir in toasted nuts and flour mixture, carefully folding together until thoroughly combined. Gently spread into prepared pan.

Warm the preserves and lemon juice in the microwave oven to combine and slightly liquify the preserves to ease adding to the batter. Dtop this mixture by spoonfuls in a three or four rows. Draw a butter knive through the batter and jam to create swirls on top of the batter.

Bake 30 minutes or until center is set, and slightly firm to the touch. Try not to over bake and you will have moist, chewy bars to enjoy.

Allow Blondies to cool, approximately 1 hour before removing from pan and cutting into squares. Makes 20-24 bars. Store in air-tight container. These freeze well, so they are great for make-ahead treats.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE????

Let us know how it turned out & what combination of optional ingredients you added! Would you make it again?