Brown Butter Blondies with White Chocolate & Toasted Pecans

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The bar every bakery case is chasing: a shiny, crackly top, chewy edges and a dense, almost-underbaked butterscotch center. Browning the butter and letting the batter rest 20 minutes gives these a deep caramel-toffee flavor you cannot get from a boxed mix, while white chocolate puddles and toasted pecans keep every bite interesting. Baked in an 8-inch square pan so they stay thick.

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (200 g)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
• 1 tbsp whole milk or water
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (145 g)
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 3/4 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
• 1 cup white chocolate, chopped into rough chunks (about 5 oz)
• flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Spread the chopped pecans on a small baking sheet and toast 6 to 8 minutes, until fragrant and one shade darker. Set aside to cool completely. Line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides, and lightly butter the exposed corners.
2. Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling often, for 5 to 7 minutes: it will foam, then quiet down, and the milk solids at the bottom will turn golden brown and smell nutty. Immediately scrape the butter and every bit of the browned sediment into a large heatproof bowl.
3. Whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar and milk into the hot butter. Let the mixture cool for 8 to 10 minutes, until it is just warm to the touch — if it is hot it will scramble the eggs and the blondies will be greasy.
4. Whisk in the whole egg, then the yolk, then the vanilla. Now whisk hard for a full 45 seconds, until the batter looks glossy, slightly lightened and ribbony. This step is what builds the shiny, crackly top.
5. Add the flour, fine sea salt and baking powder. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold just until no dry flour remains — about 20 strokes. Fold in the cooled pecans and three-quarters of the white chocolate.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it level with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Press the remaining white chocolate chunks over the surface. Let the pan rest on the counter 20 minutes to hydrate the flour (the batter will thicken noticeably and bake up chewier).
7. Bake at 350°F for 24 to 28 minutes. The blondies are done when the edges are set and pulling from the parchment, the top is golden and crackled, and a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out with moist crumbs while the very center still looks slightly underdone. Do not wait for a clean toothpick.
8. Sprinkle the hot surface with flaky sea salt. Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 2 hours — fully to room temperature — so the center finishes setting into fudgy chew.
9. Lift out by the parchment onto a cutting board and cut into 16 squares with a large sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts for clean edges.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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