This time of year, everyone seems to lose their minds for pumpkin and apples. I admit I am guilty of this too, but I think maple is truly my favorite fall flavor.
Yes, I know maple syrup is made in the spring, but it tastes like fall. It just does. It’s the color of the best crunchy leaves and it tastes like nostalgia and Saturday mornings in early November. Please excuse my waxing poetic, but you know I’m right.
I’ve made tons of maple recipes over the years, including a layer cake, caramel corn, and some incredible sandwich cookies, but I never run out of new ideas for how to use it. Not gonna lie though, I think I’ve outdone myself with these Salty Maple Brown Butter Blondies.
You read that right. Salty. Maple. Brown Butter. Blondies. That’s like everything good in the world in one baked good.
The blondies themselves are a classic recipe with a little less brown sugar and a whole lot of maple syrup. They bake up without fuss and would be great by their lonesome, but then you’d be foregoing the magic of the Salty Maple Brown Butter icing. It gets poured on the blondies warm and settles into a thick layer reminiscent of maple candy. But, you know, with brown butter and flaky finishing salt.
Salty Maple Brown Butter Blondies are sweet, salty, and very buttery, and have the textures of both a perfect chewy cookie and soft maple candy. Their maple flavor shines so brightly and just gets better and deeper as they age. Yes, I am telling you to take your time eating these, but I’ll be the first to admit that’s easier said than done.
Salty Maple Brown Butter Blondies
makes one 8- or 9-inch square pan, about 16 blondies
Blondies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I use Grade A Dark Color, Robust Taste)
1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
tiny pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
Salty Maple Brown Butter Icing:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
For Finishing:
coarse or flaky salt (I used Maldon)
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square pan and line with parchment, leaving overhang for bar-removal. Set aside while you make the blondie batter.
Brown the butter. Place butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Let butter melt. Butter will bubble and crackle as the water content evaporates. Swirl the pan frequently for 5-7 minutes, keeping an eye on the color. When the solids are turning brown and the butter is nutty and fragrant, remove the pot from the heat and immediately pour the brown butter into a medium-large mixing bowl.
Whisk granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and maple syrup into the brown butter. Mix in egg and vanilla, followed by flour, nutmeg and salt.
Spread the blondie batter in prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (no raw batter). Let blondies cool 15 minutes in the pan on a rack.
Meanwhile make the icing. Place butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Let butter melt. Butter will bubble and crackle as the water content evaporates. Swirl the pan frequently for 5-7 minutes, keeping an eye on the color. When the solids are turning brown and the butter is nutty and fragrant, remove the pot from the heat. Immediately whisk in maple syrup, followed by confectioner’s sugar and salt. Whisk until smooth.
Pour icing over the the blondies (still in the pan). Tilt the pan back and forth and coax with the back of a spoon so that the icing covers the blondies. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky or coarse finishing salt. Let blondies continue to cool until room temperature.
Run a small, thin knife around the edge of the pan, then use parchment to lift them onto a cutting board. Slice with a large, sharp chef’s knife, wiping the blade clean between cuts. Serve.
Blondies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
It’s fall, y’all! And not a minute too soon. I have been obsessed with these Pumpkin Pie S’mores for weeks and am so excited that I finally get to share them on here today!
You read that right: Pumpkin Pie S’mores! As in graham cracker, toasted marshmallow and a little puddle of pumpkin pie all stacked together in one perfect bite. These are absolutely magical, if I do say so myself. And, I do, since I’ve been eating one around midnight pretty much everyday since Labor Day.
The key to this whole operation is a homemade Pumpkin Spice Spread. It’s basically a soft-set pumpkin pie filling that can be used anywhere you could use a little pumpkin spice flourish. Toast, 
For those of you wondering if you can bypass the homemade spread by using pumpkin butter or mixing together some canned pumpkin, spices and brown sugar for your s’mores, the answer is “sure…but it won’t be the same.” While those options both work in a pinch, neither is as rich and decadent as Pumpkin Spice Spread. It’s made with sweetened condensed milk and has some body from egg yolks, so it’s every bit as luxurious as its pastry-wrapped counterpart and far more versatile. You’ll be seeing a lot of this stuff on here this season!
The whole Pumpkin Spice Spread process takes 25 minutes, fifteen of which are hands-off. The most “involved” step is caramelizing the pumpkin, and that’s no trouble at all. It’s literally pushing a cup of pumpkin purée around a dry sauté pan for ten minutes until some of its liquid evaporates and it darkens ever so slightly. This is to ensure that your Pumpkin Spice Spread is nice and thick and never one-note. If you’re pinched for time, you could probably get away without this step, but it really makes a difference in the end product.
Well, except for the part where you dig it out of the fridge every night and sandwich some with graham crackers and a toasted marshmallow. Oh yeah, that’s it.
e2 bakes brooklyn 