Christmas Brown Butter Blondies
These Christmas Brown Butter Blondies are a real crowd-pleaser, ideal for holiday gatherings or as a cozy treat with a mug of hot cocoa
Equipment
- 1 Heavy-bottomed saucepan
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Heat-Resistant Spatula
- Parchment paper
- Bowls, measuring cups and spoons
- 1 8" x 8" square cake pan (at least 2" depth)
- Hand or stand mixer (to make buttercream)
- Pastry bags
Ingredients
Blondies dough
- 1 Cup Butter Unsalted
- 1 ¾ Cups Brown sugar Light or dark brown
- 2 Cups All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 Large Eggs Room temperature
- 1 Cup M&Ms M&Ms, Reese's, chocolate bars, etc...
Decorations
- ½ Cup Unsalted butter softened
- 2 Cups Powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Water or milk
- Gel food coloring yellow and green
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Place chunks of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stir occasionally.
- Once the butter has melted, it will begin to foam. Keep cooking and stirring. The foam will subside, and the butter will start to sizzle and bubble.
- The milk solids in the butter will start to brown. You’ll notice a nutty aroma and see the butter turn golden brown. Keep a close eye on it to prevent burning and continue stirring.
- When the butter has turned a deep golden brown and you see browned bits (milk solids) at the bottom of the pan, remove it from heat immediately. This takes approximately 4 - 6 minutes.
- Pour the browned butter into a heat-resistant bowl. Let it cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
Prepare Baking Pan
- Lightly grease an 8" x 8" square cake pan with baking spray or melted butter.
- Make two pieces of parchment paper that are 8" x 14".
- Place one sheet over the pan and press it into the bottom and sides, creasing the paper where the edges of the pan meet.
- Lay the second sheet crossed over the first sheet and extending up the sides of the pan.
- Make sure it hangs over two opposite sides of the pan. These will act as handles to lift out the blondies.
Blondies
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Sift flour if necessary to remove lumps. Set bowl aside.
- Add brown sugar to bowl with cooled brown butter. Whisk until smooth.
- Add eggs to bowl. Whisk until smooth.
- Add flour and salt to bowl. Stir until smooth and no dry pieces of flour remain.
- Add M&M's to mixing bowl. Stir until evenly distributed.
- Add blondie dough to prepared baking pan. Use your hands or an offset spatula to smooth dough evenly.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Top will be evenly browned and slightly risen.
- Cool for one hour. Pull up on parchment to remove blondies from pan. Cut to desired sized pieces.
Decorating
- Place softened butter in a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until butter is smooth (2 - 3 minutes).
- Add powdered sugar and water to mixing bowl. Start mixing on low speed and slowly increase speed to medium-high. Mix until smooth and creamy (2 - 3 minutes).
- Remove ⅓ cup of buttercream and place in a separate bowl. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring and stir until combined. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip.
- Add a few drops of green food coloring to remainder of buttercream and stir until combined. Continue adding more green drops until you achieve your desired color. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip.
- For the Christmas trees, pipe a squiggle of green icing down slices of blondies (start with a small squiggle at the top and increase size of squiggle as you go down).
- Pipe a yellow star at top of each Christmas tree.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 256kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 158mgPotassium: 46mgFiber: 1gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 165IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 1mg
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