Toffee Blondies

Other than one fateful summer where I got blonde highlights, I've been very much a brunette my whole life.  I'm really not a hair person to begin with, so the idea of having to constantly visit the salon for touch-ups is about as high on my list as my desire to clean out the bottom of my trashcan.

Despite my allegiance to brown hair and brownies, I have to say, occasionally blondies really do have more fun.

Blondie batter itself is more delicate in flavor than uber-chocolatey brownies, so the mix-ins you add to it can really stand out more.  Enter: toffee and walnuts.

These toffee blondies are better than almost any brownie in my book, and I could not stop eating them.

John doesn't eat blondies, or toffee for that matter, so luckily I had some neighbors with which to share these addictive treats.

I loved these so much I was eating them for breakfast and justifying it by their shape, color, and inclusion of walnuts: "It's like a tasty granola bar!"  Isn't it nice when you bake something so delicious that there's nothing you'd rather be eating?  Browned butter combined the toffee and walnuts makes for a winning combination in my book.  I hope you too are enticed to bake these blondies - if you like toffee, I promise they will be the best you've ever had.  We can go blonde together.

Toffee Blondies
From Eat Live Run

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup toffee bits (I used Heath Bits O' Brickle)
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8x8 pan (this makes for a thing blondie already, so if you use a 9x9 pan be sure to reduce the baking time).

Melt one stick of butter over medium heat in a saucepan until lightly brown in color, stirring constantly.  Be careful not to burn the butter.

Add browned butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with 1 cup packed dark brown sugar for about 3 minutes.  Add 1 egg and beat until incorporated.  Add flour, salt, and vanilla all at once and beat until just combined.  By hand, mix in toffee bits and chopped walnuts.  Spread batter (it will be thick) into greased pan and bake for 25 minutes.