Butterscotch Coffee Blondies

Don’t you just love it when airlines add those extra touches that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? On Sunday evening, Thomas and I flew on Frontier Airlines and were so excited to find that we not only had access to TV during the flight, but we were also served complimentary warm cookies. I chose to dunk my deliciously chewy cookie in my in-flight coffee and it was absolute perfection. Suddenly, the videogame playing brat behind me who kept kicking my seat, the snoring man beside me who kept twitching, and the grown woman in front of me who was deathly terrified of mild turbulence all seemed to fade away. Even my intrusive security pat-down seemed kind of worth it! Speaking of pats, I had to pat myself on the back after I selfishly accepted the cookie intended for the sleeping man next to me – which I happily devoured without him suspecting a thing!

I made these Butterscotch Coffee Blondies after my enjoyable in-flight experience with my complimentary coffee-dunking cookies. Sometimes I feel like blondies are the ugly stepchild of brownies, and that they don’t get the credit they deserve. And while I can often get a bit tired of chocolate (gasp!), the combination of butterscotch with coffee makes for a sweet, unique, and comforting treat. When making this recipe, you can of course add chocolate chips or nuts or any other ingredients that you desire. Try these blondies with a hot cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Butterscotch Coffee Blondies

(Adapted from Mark Bittman’s blondie recipe)

Ingredients

1 stick sweet cream butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant espresso
1 egg
Pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup butterscotch chips

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter (you can brown the butter over the stove to give the blondies a nutty flavor). Beat together melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, espresso powder, and egg. Add a pinch of salt and then slowly incorporate the flour.

Toss the butterscotch chips in a bit of flour. This prevents the chips from sinking to the bottom while baking. Stir in the chips.

Pour batter into an 8x8 pan and bake for 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, then the blondies are done. Let them cool before cutting and enjoy!