“Whatcha making there, pipsqueak? Is that my birthday surprise?”

“Caleb! What are you doing back so early? I thought you — hey! Get your hand away from those! They’re still cooling.”

“Why should I keep my hand out of it? It’s for me isn’t it? Unless… you want to feed me yourself?”

---

When you think of your childhood, what flavors come to mind?

Inspired by the birthday of our dashing Colonel Caleb from Love and Deepspace, I have put together a recipe for Butterscotch Blondies – a chewy bar that reflects the warmth of childhood with nostalgic and sweet flavors.

Butterscotch is such a happy, carefree favor, so it seemed like a perfect flavor to celebrate Caleb’s birthday.

What was your favorite childhood flavor?

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of light or dark brown sugar, packed (200g)
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (110g)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of butterscotch syrup (the kind you put in coffees, like Torani or Da Vinci. I used Shott.) (60g)
• 2 tsp of vanilla syrup (8g)
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour, sifted (125g before sifting)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (2g)
• 1/4 tsp salt (1g)
• 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips, or whatever mix-ins you like, such as chocolate chips, toffee, nuts, etc. (85g)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat your oven to 320F/160C. Grease either two small brownie pans (5.25 x 5.25″/13.3 cm × 13.3 cm) or one 8×8″/20cm x 20cm pan.
• Mix together your flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift together into a medium sized bowl.

• In a bigger bowl, add the brown sugar and slightly cooled melted butter. Mix together well.
• Add the vanilla and butterscotch flavorings, and the egg. Mix until it’s nice and smooth.
• Gently fold in the flour mixture a little bit at a time until well combined and creamy. (Don’t overmix!)
• Add in your white chocolate chips (and other mix-ins) and mix some more. The batter should be thick and stick to the spatula or spoon.

• You can now either put it into one 8×8 pan, or split the batter into two 5×5 pans. (I like using the 5×5 because I have more edge pieces!)
• Bake at 320F/160C for about 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. It should be set on the top and pulling away from the edges of the pan. When you stick a toothpick in, it should come out with a few crumbs.
• Let the blondies cool for about 20-30 minutes so everything can fully set.
• Cut it up into pieces and dig in! You can top off with some melted white chocolate chips if you’d like.

NOTES

Q: Are brownies and blondies the same thing?

Blondies look similar to brownies, but have completely different textures. Blondies are dense and chewy, while brownies are soft. If you’d like softer blondies, try adding an extra egg yolk, and then split the flour into half all-purpose flour and half-cake flour.

Q: My blondies came out tough and chewy. What happened?

Blondies get softer over time. If you eat them warm out of the oven, they will be thick, like toffee. If you wait until the next day, they will be softer. I recommend preparing blondies the day before you want to eat them so the starches have time to settle and soften the texture.

Q: Can I use white sugar instead of brown?

Yes, but I don’t recommend it because it will change the texture and flavor quite a bit. White sugar makes it cakey, brown sugar makes it chewy. The molasses in the brown sugar is what makes a blondie so delicious!

Q: Can I make this dairy-free?

I assume so, but I can’t test it because vegan baking is not a thing in Korea, honestly. You can try it with vegan butter instead of regular butter, but I can’t make any promises. If you make a dairy free version, tell me how it turned out in the comments!

Q: How should I store them?

You can store these blondies in an air tight container at room temperature for 3 days, or even in the refrigerator for 5 days. You can also freeze them to snack on later!

To freeze: I recommend cutting them up in squares and then wrapping them in parchment paper or saran wrap. Put them in a freezer safe bag. Pull them out a couple hours before you want to eat them, or warm them up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating.

Q: Can I make these in muffin tins?

Sure! Use the same temperature, but cook for just 15-20 minutes instead of 25 minutes.

Q: Why is the texture too tough/too soft?

You might have overmixed the batter, added too much flour, not added enough fat, or overbaked them. Don’t give into the temptation to use less butter or sugar, since these keep moisture in the batter.