Whenever I hear the word "blondie" I immediately think of the 80's singer and not of the chewy pale cousin to the brownie. But I'll have to have to start thinking differently after a pan of these disappeared quickly from our house. What's a blondie? Cakespy (the cake gumshoe who knows all about sweets) says that a blondie is the albino cousin to the brownie. Sure blondies don't have the hedonistic chocolate punch that a dark chocolate brownie has, but I like these sweets just fine. They do have a good chew with a nice crispy edge (make sure you snag one of the outer pieces) and they are rich, dense and oh so butterscotchy. Yes, butterscotchy is a word.While the butter and brown sugar helps to make these bars taste like butterscotch, the flavour gets punched up with the addition of butterscotch chips. You probably have some extras in your cupboard after making the crispy salted oatmeal butterscotch cookies a while back. But chocolate lovers shouldn't feel left out as there's a nice dump-load of dark chocolate chips added in too. The toasted pecans are there to add crunch and tame down the sweet-factor.
My husband loved these a whole lot and he missed them when they were all gone. He isn't conflicted with the brownie/blondie conundrum. You could kid yourself into thinking that since they are made with wholesome whole wheat flour rather than the processed white stuff, that these are healthy and good for you. Believe what you want, just bake up a batch. Trust me, they'll disappear quickly.
Chocolate Pecan Butterscotch Blondie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup toasted chopped pecans
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the brown sugar so that it's well mixed into a goopy syrup. Remove from heat.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Once the butter/sugar mixture cools a bit, add in the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined. Pour mixture into the flour and stir until just mixed. Add in the pecans, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips, stirring well so that everything gets mixed together.
4. Pour the batter into a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish, smoothing out the top with a spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or so until the center comes out relatively clean, the top is golden and the sides start to pull away from the dish. Cool and cut into squares.
