Brown Butter Toffee Blondies

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease a 9 x 13 pan with the 1 tablespoon of butter. Then dust it with the 2 tablespoons of flour, tapping out the excess flour. Set pan aside.

Cut each of the sticks of butter into 4 pieces and place them in a medium saucepan. Melt butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter stops foaming, then stir constantly until butter turns golden and smells nutty. Watch carefully at this point, as the butter can burn quickly. As soon as it turns golden, remove the butter from the heat and set it aside to allow it to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, vanilla bean powder, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Add the cooled browned butter and both sugars to a large bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each egg. Then add the vanilla and mix until well combined.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and gently stir it until just about combined. Then add the toffee bits and milk chocolate chunks, and gently stir just enough to distribute the bits evenly.

Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake about 20 minutes, just until a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Make sure that you don’t overbake! Remove the pan from the oven and cool the blondies completely in the pan on a wire baking rack.

Blondies will keep for 3 days at room temperature if covered with plastic wrap. Or, cut blondies into desired size squares, wrap each one in waxed paper, and place them in a plastic freezer bag, making sure to squeeze the excess air out. They will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

This recipe was adapted from Epicurious’ Blondies with Pecans and Chocolate Chips.