Brown Butter Blondies

If you pay attention to the “foodie world,” you’ve probably noticed that brown butter is the new “it” ingredient!

So what is brown butter anyway? It’s just regular butter that you cook on the stove top on medium high heat just barely past its melting point. While cooking the butter, you have to keep an eye on it, and stir it fairly frequently. It will begin to foam and it will turn from golden yellow to tan and brown flakes will fall to the bottom of the pan. Once that happens, you must immediately remove the butter from the stove and pour it into a heatproof bowl. And voila! Brown butter!

REMEMBER: You have to be very careful not to burn the butter while it’s on the stove. There’s only a few seconds difference between perfectly brown butter and bitter burnt butter! It takes between 5 to 9 minutes to brown the butter depending on your pan and your stove. I use a non-stick green pan and my butter browns in 8 minutes.

You may be wondering, “What’s the point in going through the hassle of making the brown butter?”

ANSWER: The taste! Brown butter has a wonderful caramel, nutty, toffee flavor that is delicious in both sweet and savory dishes.

I’m using the brown butter in a sweet dish today – I know, that was already obvious by the title. The rest of the ingredients in the blondie are pretty standard – which makes it the perfect recipe to showcase the miraculous effects of brown butter!

Brown Butter Blondies

Yield: Makes about 12 blondies

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups light brown sugar (414 grams)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Directions

1. First you will need to brown the butter. Cut each of the 2 sticks of butter into 8, 1 tablespoon slices (ensures the butter will melt evenly). Melt the butter over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir the butter occasionally. Once the butter has melted, the butter will begin to foam. About 3-ish minutes after it starts foaming, it will begin to turn tan. Once that happens, remove it from the stove and pour into a heatproof bowl. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. While butter is cooling, prepare an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan by lining it with aluminum foil. This will make it easier to cut the blondies in the future. Set aside.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl and set aside.
4. Combine the brown sugar with the melted butter until it is completely smooth.
5. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until combined.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Add batter to prepared baking pan and cook for 25-30 minutes. You know the blondies are done when the edges are firm and slightly darker in color.
8. Remove from the oven. Once cool, lift the aluminum foil up out of the pans and cut into squares.