Brown Butter Blondies

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

When words fail, I use brown butter to fill in the gaps—also some sugar, eggs, flour, chocolate chips, and toasty walnuts — for good measure.

This time, I was hoping to convey:

“Thank you, colleagues who do not know my name but nevertheless make my life infinitely more pleasant just by doing your jobs, which are as integral to my work as they are broadly unacknowledged; as one of the most fabulous collections of human beings this Earth has ever seen, you deserve infinitely more praise than I could every appropriately bestow with words alone, so please take these treats baked with equal parts brown sugar and appreciation in lieu of such expressive verbal gratitude.”

You see how this sentiment might be tricky to express in the form of a professional work email.

Nevertheless, there is nothing at all untoward about leaving baked goods in the break room, or individually wrapped on folks’ desks, with a simple note that says “Salted brown butter blondies with chocolate chips and toasted walnuts. Enjoy!” (I do try to confirm that there are no allergies on my team before bringing any treats to work, though, just to be safe.)

These blondies are my go-to “how do I say this” treat for multiple reasons:

1. They are inconceivably quick and easy and made with everyday ingredients you probably have in your pantry right now. Realize you need a baked good for your meeting tomorrow morning? Blondies to the rescue!
2. This was originally my mom’s recipe — or as she’d protest, All You magazine’s recipe, specifically the May 2008 issue, according to the stained and wrinkled page we have tucked into our recipe binder — and over the entirety of my childhood and into adulthood, these blondies have consistently been the first to go at potlucks, parties, family gatherings, you name it. They are universally adored, and a batch never stuck around our house long.
3. Brown. Butter.

To elaborate on point three, browning butter is my zen. Some people have yoga; I have butter. The gentle frothing sound as the butter browns, the gorgeous nutty smell that soon pervades the whole kitchen — or the whole house, if you like me, inhabit a grand total of 700 square feet — and that rich, golden, amber color of the finished product; it’s enough to make a statue swoon.

How does one brown butter? It’s easy as pie — actually easier, as I find pie dough can be surprisingly temperamental, and brown butter would never do me wrong. I first learned how to brown butter by following this tutorial on the wonderful Sally’s Baking Addiction. (I’ll also take this opportunity to plug her pistachio cake, which is excellent with a lemon buttercream).

In general, though, I toss the desired amount of butter into the pan (usually slightly more than the recipe calls for since during the toasting process, water will evaporate off, reducing the final volume of butter we end up with), set the element to medium heat, and then I don’t leave. I linger, lovingly mesmerized by the frothing butter, stirring more than is strictly necessary with a wooden spoon because I have no self-restraint until the little specks of toasted milk solids that appear at the bottom of the pan turn dark amber and all the melted butter is caramel-colored and smells like heaven if heaven were designed by Willy Wonka.

Now, one final note: this recipe calls for an impressively high ratio of brown sugar to all the other ingredients. Were this recipe not irrevocably stained with childhood delight, I would probably try reducing the sugar by a third or even half. Still, as is, I have grown too attached to the perfectly brownie-like texture of the final blondies, the centers indulgently reminiscent of caramel, the tops gorgeously shiny and crinkled.

And besides, we’re already browning butter — I promise our next recipe will include whole wheat or something, but today we’re indulging our sweetest cravings as well as our gratitude.

So let’s get to it!

Salted Brown Butter Blondies with Walnuts and Chocolate Chips (adapted from All You, the May 2008 issue)

*All weight measurements come from my basic kitchen scale.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (132 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (or table salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (205 g) packed light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (milk or dark chocolate also work; you can also use chunks or a chopped up chocolate bar if you prefer)
• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional, but I like a good nut; I often toast walnuts in a pan on the stove over medium heat, just keeping a close eye on them, but you can also toast them on a sheet pan in the oven)
• Flaky sea salt or coarse kosher salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Protocol:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Brown your butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is beautifully browned, remove the pan from heat and pour the butter into a small heat-proof bowl, being sure to scrape up all those gorgeous toasty bits on the bottom; this will keep the butter from overcooking. Set aside and let cool slightly while you gather your other ingredients.
3. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray or a thin coating of butter.
4. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir with a fork to combine.
5. Off heat, return slightly cooled but still melted butter to the pan you browned it in (why make more dishes?), again being sure to catch all those tasty, toasty bits. Stir in brown sugar, and let cool slightly, then stir in egg and vanilla until smooth.
6. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate chips and nuts (if using).
7. Using a spoon or scant 1/4 cup measure, portion out blondie batter evenly between each muffin tin (for 12 blondies total). No need to stress about each one being exactly identical; you just want them close enough in size that they’ll bake evenly.
8. Bake until just set, 15–17 minutes. As with brownies, you want to be careful not to over-bake blondies; I usually check at 13 minutes, and if I’m not totally sure they’re done, give ’em another 2 minutes, then pull them out.
9. Sprinkle tops lightly with coarse salt, if desired.
10. Let blondies cool completely on a wire rack before removing them from the pan. To remove from pan once cool, run a butter or paring knife gently around the edge of each blondie to loosen if needed — they should pop out of the tin quite readily.
11. If giving away to colleagues, I wrap these individually in cling-wrap once completely cool, so everyone can take one without touching the others. For family or friends accustomed to sharing food, these keep well in Tupperware at room temperature for several days.

Happy snacking!

A formatting note: As some of you may have noticed, I recently deleted my publication “52 Bakes.” I did this for several reasons.

On Medium, you can only post each story to one publication; as it’s fun to share recipes with other publications, it seemed silly to limit me to publish on my own platform. Also, as I was going to post everything to that publication anyway, it was inevitably going to be identical to my general page, so delineating it as something else was a bit cumbersome and misleading.

Never fear, though! The plan has not changed! I will still deliver a minimum of 52 bakes — at least once a week for a year — by January 1, 2022, all of which can found on my page, @helengracebakes. Thank you!