Butterscotch Walnut Blondies

Sometimes I get lost in cookbooks.  I know that I want to bake something, and instead of actually getting much baking done, I spend half of an afternoon paging through cookbooks just trying to decide what to bake. If I only had one or two cookbooks, it might not be too much of a problem. But, let’s just say I have a few more than one or two cookbooks to page through. Just a few more.

Last week, on one of those afternoons, I was paging through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours, something caught my eye.  I spied her recipe for Chewy, Chunky Blondies, I knew exactly what I wanted to bake.  Suddenly all of my indecision melted away, and I was ready to bake.

I didn’t have all of the ingredients for the original recipe, but I made a few quick substitutions (and left a few of the mix-ins – like chocolate and coconut) out. I also added in some butter rum extract, which happens to be one of my favorites for baking.  A little bit goes a long way, but I love the extra flavor it adds! What I was left with was a batch of chewy blondies studded with butterscotch chips and walnuts.

I really enjoyed the taste and texture of the blondies. My husband, who always proclaims that he doesn’t like butterscotch, had a few of the blondies and really liked them.  He was especially fond of them with a nice dark roast cup of coffee. I consider that a success!

Butterscotch Walnut Blondies
Makes about 32 blondies
(Adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon butter rum extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups butterscotch chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch baking pan, place it on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl, if using a hand mixer).  Beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well (for about 1 minute) after each addition, making sure the eggs are fully incorporated.  Beat in the vanilla and butter rum extract.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  With the mixer on the slowest speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating just until the the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in the butterscotch chips and walnuts by hand.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan.  Bake for about 45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then invert the blondies onto a wire rack (twice, so that they are right side up) to cool completely.  Cut into bars.

Please Note – The links to Baking: From My Home To Yours provided in this post are Amazon affiliate links.