Happy Butterscotch Brownie Day!

I hope everyone has recovered from National Zucchini Bread Day, because we've got another holiday to celebrate: National Butterscotch Brownie Day!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: If it's National Butterscotch Brownie Day, how come there's a Butterscotch Blondie right there?
 

Others of you are suddenly wondering what the difference between a brownie and a blondie is, because before this moment, you've never even thought about it.
 

And then there's probably a few more of you who are like, "Dude.  Who cares what the difference is?  Just get on with this post before I drool all over my keyboard."

Well, to the first group, I say that when you Google "butterscotch brownie recipe", way more blondie recipes come up than brownie recipes.  And since I've never made blondies before, I figured I'd cheat on the holiday a little.

To the second group of you, don't worry - I hadn't even heard of a blondie until a couple years ago.  That's probably because until recently, if a dessert didn't contain chocolate, it basically didn't exist to me.  And that fact in itself demonstrates the difference between a brownie and a blondie: the dominant flavor of in a brownie comes from cocoa; a blondie gets its flavor from brown sugar.*

To the third group of you: I'll get on the with the post now, but I can't guarantee that you'll stop drooling...because, well, these blondies just cried for some companions -  ice cream, caramel sauce, and marshmallow topping, to be exact:

 

Yeah.  It was divine.

So this recipe is definitely a keeper, for four reasons:
 

1) I had all the ingredients in my cupboard.  No extra trip to the store  = a very happy Katie.
 

2) It makes a small batch (nine large blondies).  When you bake as much as I do, leftover baked goods are common, and they commonly end up around my middle, so sometimes less is more.
 

3) It's not chocolate, which means I eat less, and that my non-chocolate loving friends can enjoy more (Wait.  I have friends who don't like chocolate?!  Where did I meet them?  And what can we possibly have in common?...)
 

4) The batter comes together super fast, which means I can make these on a weeknight and still have time to tackle this:

Yeah.  It was scary.  But by the time the oven timer beeped, the dishes were done, and that, my friends, is a sweet as butterscotch.
 

*for those who might appreciate this: butterscotch's main ingredient is brown sugar.   Therefore, "butterscotch blondies" is actually redundant :-)

Butterscotch Blondies
adapted from Simply Recipes via Jenn's Baking Chamber
Makes 9 large blondies

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butterscotch chips (chopped walnuts and chocolate chips are equally tasty)

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F.   Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish.


2.  In large bowl, stir together melted butter and sugar with a wooden spoon.

3.  In separate bowl, lightly beat egg and egg yolk, then add eggs and vanilla to butter mixture and stir to combine.


4.  Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Fold in chips.  

5.  Pour batter into baking dish and spread evenly.  Bake until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Cut into squares.