Browned Butter Chocolate Toffee Blondies

These are fully loaded blondies, using Smitten Kitchen's base recipe! I decided to throw in plenty of dark chocolate chunks, chopped up Heath bars, and then some Maldon sea salt to top it with. 

Like Deb recommended, I decided to go with browning the butter before adding it. I may have pulled it off a little early... but the milk solids burn so fast and I didn't want to risk it!

This was my batter for a double batch, with tons of chocolate chunks and toffee bits!

The batter is super buttery, which bodes well for the moistness of the final product!

For a single batch, use an 8x8-inch pan; for a double batch, I went with a 9x13-inch pan. This is quite a thick batter, so you'll have to do most of the work in flattening it out into an even layer throughout the pan.

Bake time is 20-25 minutes, and I kept a close eye on them after the 15 minute mark honestly - I definitely wanted them to be moist, almost gooey! I waited until the edges looked golden brown and the top layer had fully puffed up before immediately pulling them out of the oven.

Right after they came out of the oven, I sprinkled a couple of pinches of Maldon sea salt on top - any flaky sea salt will do! The blondies have to be hot when the salt goes on so that it can stick. I wanted a touch of salt to contrast the sweetness of all of the mix-ins.

Browned Butter Chocolate Toffee Blondies

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

8 tbsp (1 stick, 4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter

1 cup (190 grams) brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2 cup toffee bits (or chopped up Heath bars)

Flaky sea salt to top

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×8-inch baking pan, or line the bottom and two sides of one with parchment paper, buttering the exposed parts.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan and cook it, stirring occasionally, until it becomes toasted and browned at the bottom. Pour into a medium or large bowl and whisk sugar in until smooth. 

3. When mixture is cooled to lukewarm, whisk in egg, vanilla, and sea salt. 

4. Stir in flour, then fold in chocolate and toffee. 

5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth with spatula. 

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned at edges. Sprinkle with flaky salt right after removing them from the oven. Let cool, then cut into squares.

I love this recipe for its richness, simplicity (you don't have to brown the butter if you want to save yourself some time!), and its infinitely adaptable (as Deb calls it!) nature. The base recipe itself is fantastic, and the batter is robust enough to support a wide variety of mix-ins. I would absolutely recommend giving it a try!