Line a 9×9 square baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, place butter and melt over medium heat while stirring. Heat butter until it foams. Once the foam subsides, the butter will be brown and smell caramelly and slightly nutty. Take off the heat. Stir in sugar and vanilla.

Place oven rack in the middle position. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

While oven is preheating, let butter and sugar cool a bit. Once the oven is preheated, your mixture should be ready for the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Sprinkle flour over top and stir in with a spatula. Don’t overmix.

Pour 1/2 of the batter into your prepared pan. Cover with a single layer of maple cream cookies. Pour the rest of batter over the cookies. Spread out the batter to cover the cookies and get in between the cookies and around the edges.

Place pan in the oven and bake for 25-27 minutes. A tooth pick inserted in the blondie (in between the cookies) should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. You don’t want to overbake them. Even when they are done, they are so, so soft and moist. I let mine come to room temperature before I cut into them.

Store in an airtight container. These only lasted 24 hours in my house.

Enjoy!

(Recipe for the blondies slightly, slightly adapted from Kevin and Amanda. The addition of maple cream cookies was all my idea.)