Butterscotch Toffee Brownies

Butterscotch Toffee Brownies - made February 5, 2022 from All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Generous 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/3 cup toffee bits

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well combined and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined; do not overbeat.
4. Stir in toffee bits and coconut. Spread batter in an even layer in prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting and serving. 

Back to the baking books for this. This might be more appropriately called Coconut Toffee Blondies instead as that's primarily what they are. I took some liberties with the original recipe as it suggested chopped pecans be included in the batter. I don't like nuts in my blondies or brownies unless (rarely) they're sprinkled on top. But not mixed into the batter. Nuts soften and steam in the batter during baking and the baked result is just a texture annoyance to me.

I did take the suggestion of adding coconut to the batter however which turned these properly into coconut bars. I only had less than 1/3 bag of toffee bits though so these are more coconut than toffee. Which I don't mind.

As with most blondies, these are cakey more than "fudgy". The taste was pretty good but then, I like coconut. The brown sugar adds a nice caramel (or butterscotch) flavor so if those flavor profiles are to your taste, this is a good and easy blondie to make. It's good for non-chocolate lovers (whoever they are) and if you leave off the toffee bits and don't add nuts, this would also work for people with tree nut allergies.