Maple-Butter Blondies

I have come to the conclusion that if you are serving anything but true maple syrup at your house, then you are doing your entire family an injustice. I love, love, love maple syrup. Not Aunt Jemima. I'm talking about the real deal. It is SO worth the splurge in my book. I love coupons, but I will buy this thing full price. Well, not really full price. I've bought it from Sam's and Amazon. I guess I try to find a deal :) This recipe was screaming to me when I saw it in the Food Network Magazine a couple of months ago. I have another recipe for Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts that I made a few months ago. It is very similar to the base of this recipe. What makes this recipe spectacular is the sauce. What is there not to love about a sauce made of maple syrup, butter and cream?!? Take the warm blondie, top it with vanilla ice cream and drizzle it all with the warm maple sauce. I can make myself sick with this one. In fact, I think I'm about to go get a second helping now...



For the Blondies:

10 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup walnut pieces, divided
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
6 oz. chocolate chips or chunks

For the Topping:

1/3 cup maple syrup
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
vanilla ice cream, for serving
1/2 cup walnut sprinkles, for garnishing

Make the blondies. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Pulse 1/2 cup walnuts in a food processor until almost fine (do not over process). Whisk the ground nuts, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake until blondies are light brown around the edges and spring back when pressed, about 35 minutes (I had to leave mine in longer).

Meanwhile, make the topping. Place the maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the mixture bubbles and thickens, swirling the pan, about 6 minutes (mine never really thickened a whole lot). Add the cream and continue to cook until the mixture is the consistency of caramel (again, mine never really thickened until I removed it from the heat and it cooled slightly).

Cut the blondies into bars and serve topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chopped walnuts, and a healthy drizzle of the maple-butter sauce.


**And be sure to check out this recipe at Maple Syrup World! They have featured this recipe in their recipe archives. Maple Syrup World is a website that features 100% pure, organic maple syrup and treats. Check out more about them here!



Enjoy!



(adapted from Food Network Magazine)