Maple Browned Butter Blondies

This recipe took me a while to perfect.

Not the flavor. I got that first time out. No, it was the texture that gave me trouble. I wanted these blondies to be all gooey and fudgy in the middle.

The first time I made them, they were cakey. Super moist and tasty, but not what I wanted.

So I tried again. This time it was still cakey, but even more moist. Almost too moist. It was a little weird.

And then my mother gave me a list of things to bake for her to give to her coworkers. On the list were the blondies. "You mean the blondies that I haven't perfected yet?" I asked in disbelief

"They're delicious!" she protested. "Everybody loved them."

"But they're not right yet!" But even my brother agreed that they were good the way they were.

I had one last chance to get the recipe right. And you guys, I did it. They're fudgy. They're gooey. They're abso-freaking-lutely delicioso.

Of course, in order to get them to that gooey perfection, I had to make them a dieter's nightmare. There's two and a half sticks of butter in these bad boys, not to mention all the brown sugar and maple syrup. On the plus side, they're super rich so you can't eat too many at once.

They're also not super sweet, which is what I wanted. The browned butter adds enough of a savory flavor to balance out all that sugar and maple syrup, and that's the flavor that really shines in these blondies.

Long story short-- these blondies are amazing and you should make them. They are totally worth every effort I put into them.

Maple Browned Butter Blondies
Yield: 12 blondies

Ingredients
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, browned
1⅓ cups packed brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. maple flavoring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups all purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Optional: about ½ cup toffee bits*

Directions
To brown the butter: melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Continue to heat, whisking constantly, until the butter turns a light, golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 7x11 inch baking dish with non stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the browned butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs, maple flavoring, and vanilla extract until the sugar is dissolved. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until smooth. Fold in the toffee bits if using.

Bake 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

*The toffee bits sink to the bottom and melt into a sticky kind of crust. It's a mess, but delicious.

Recipe by Kim