Blondies vs. Brownies

I have often pondered over Blondies, wondering why anyone would bother to make them when you could just as easily make a Brownie. Brownies always won out over their pale cousins because of one simple element: CHOCOLATE! How can you beat chocolate? You can't, really, but here is one good reason to walk away from the dark side towards seduction of a different colour: BUTTERSCOTCH!

The beauty of kitchen alchemy is that you can start with basic ingredients like brown sugar and butter and combine them to create butterscotch, an entity infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. A Blondie is a house for butterscotch and my Almond Toffee Bars are Blondies that house even more: chopped Skor bars, little morsels of toasted nuts and chocolate chips. So, no need to suffer chocolate withdrawal with this Blondie. While I am not annulling my allegiance to Brownies, I am conceding here that Blondies have won me over with a charm of their own.  

Almond Toffee Bars

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour; 1/4 tsp. baking soda; 1/8 tsp. salt; 1/4 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled to tepid; 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar; 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract; 4 packages (1.4 ounces each) Skor bars, chopped into 1/4-inch chunks; 3/4 cup coarsely chopped skinned almonds, lightly toasted and cooled; 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter the inside of a 9" square baking pan. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Blend in the egg and vanilla and almond extracts, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix just until absorbed. Stir in chopped toffee, almonds and chocolate chips. The batter will be dense and thick.

Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread evenly and smooth the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until just set. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let cool. Cut into bars.

These bars, adapted from a recipe in Baking by Flavor, are a well packed delivery system for a deep butterscotch base, a canvas flecked with abundant nuggets of chopped toffee, chocolate and nuts. Baking the bars until just set keeps them chewy and moist, the best way to enjoy them.

Blondies vs. Brownies - I refuse to choose. I now love them both.

Find lots of new squares in all flavours with these titles:

 1500 best bars, cookies, muffins, cakes & more by Brody, Esther.

 The 250 best brownies, bars & squares by Brody, Esther.