Blondies: Perfect for Bake Sales

For those of you who participate in school or church bake sales, or like to give homemade baked goods as gifts, this butterscotch blondie (or "blond brownie") recipe is for you! And for a double dose (or is it triple?) of butterscotch, stir ½ cup of butterscotch chips into the batter.

This recipe can also be found in my cookbook Kitchen Life (Hyperion).

BUTTERSCOTCH BLONDIES
Makes 12 blondies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
¾ cup butterscotch chips for icing

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 11 ½ x 8-inch baking pan. Line the bottom and short sides of the pan with a 15-inch length of nonstick aluminum foil, pleating the foil in the center to fit the pan. Fold down the foil at the short ends to make handles. (If you use regular aluminum foil, butter and flour the foil, shaking out the excess foil.)

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Beat the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is light in color and texture, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually mix in the flour and the pecans. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.

Bake until the blondie is an even golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle the chips over the warm blondie and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the chips. Spread the chips with a metal icing spatula into a thin layer. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire cake rack.

Lift up on the handles to remove the cooled blondie from the pan. Peel off the aluminum foil and cut into 12 bars. (The blondies can be made up to 3 days ahead, wrapped individually in plastic wrap, and stored at room temperature.)