Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting

Soft, chewy, butterscotch brownies with a rich, fluffy, brown butter buttercream! These Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting have the most amazing combination of flavors, and are the perfect brownie recipe for fall!

Obvi I had a recipe coming that would use this Brown Butter Frosting from a few days ago. I would never leave you hanging with the best frosting recipe ever, and not give you something to put it on: Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting. Here you go. But also, I’ve used this frosting before on these Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes with Brown Butter Buttercream, and similarly, these Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing. So you can check out those recipes too, but I’m sure you won’t be short on ideas for how to use this frosting.

Remember the whole solar eclipse event from a few weeks ago? Doesn’t that already feel like MONTHS ago? Maybe it’s because we’re all still reeling from Hurricane Irma down here, and the whole month of September has felt looooooong. We had a family picnic on eclipse day and it feels like an eternity ago. I mean, it almost feels like a lifetime ago.

Anyway, I flew to Pennsylvania to visit my family a few weeks ago, and the flight landed just in time for the start of the eclipse. We all met at a nearby park, and everyone packed food and snacks for a picnic. We just spent the afternoon outside at the park. I can’t remember the last time we had a family picnic like that, and with the eclipse going on, it all felt very 1960s. Not that I was alive to know what that was like, but I’ve seen pictures, and I very much felt like I could’ve been in a picture from the 60s… all the kids with cereal boxes and stuff.

Since I knew we were meeting for our picnic immediately after I landed off the plane, I had the brilliant idea to pack a bunch of blog desserts that I’d stashed in the freezer. They were frozen and neatly wrapped, and I had room in my luggage for a change. I tried to pick things that I thought would travel well, and I packed them into a fabric cooler. Our freezer (until we lost a lot of desserts to Irma) was LOADED with desserts, and I never have enough people to give them to, so it was the perfect opportunity to unload some of them, but also to share them with my family at our picnic.

I grabbed 4 or 5 things and took them with me all the way to Pennsylvania. I was so excited to contribute to the picnic. Until this idea, I was just going to hop off the plane and be a freeloader. These Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting were one of the desserts that came with me, and these were a hit.

I’ve actually had the recipe for the Butterscotch Blondies for years and years, but I never used to frost them with anything. And they don’t really need a frosting. They are so delicious on their own. Super soft and chewy, very buttery and rich. These are amazing because they not only have butterscotch chips stirred into the batter, but also melted as part of the batter. Butterscotch everywhere!

Brown butter takes on such caramel/butterscotch-like qualities that I felt like it would complement these bars nicely, and it does. Then again, there’s really nothing that brown butter doesn’t make better! These Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting are the perfect brownie for fall!

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Butterscotch Blondies with Brown Butter Frosting

Soft, chewy, gooey butterscotch brownies with a rich, fluffy, brown butter buttercream!

Course Brownies

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 24 bars

Author Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl

Ingredients

For butterscotch blondies:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 2 c. butterscotch chips divided
• 1 c. chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

For brown butter frosting:

• 1 c. unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 - 5 c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 c. heavy cream

Instructions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.
2. Scatter 1 cup butterscotch chips in a single layer over the butter, and remove pan from heat. Do not stir. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add vanilla, eggs, and butterscotch chip mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until combined. The butterscotch chips will be quite melted, and will easily incorporate into the batter.
5. Fold in remaining butterscotch chips and pecans.
6. Line a 13x9-inch pan with foil, allowing it to hang over the edges.
7. Spray lightly with non-stick spray.
8. Spread batter into prepared pan.
9. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until edges are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
10. Remove pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Lift the blondies by the foil edges to remove from pan.

For brown butter frosting:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. It will develop brown flecks and a nutty, caramel fragrance, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla.
3. Cool for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer to a small heatproof bowl or jelly jar, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the browned butter until creamy.
6. Add 4 c. powdered sugar and ¼ c. heavy cream, beating until light and fluffy. You can add a little more heavy cream if needed to achieve desired consistency. It should be thick and fluffy, but spreadable!
7. Frost the blondies. Cut into bars.