Brown Butter Candy Cookie Bars

Do you have a surplus of candy on hand, a taste for blondies, or both? Make these brown butter candy cookie bars! The recipe is an adaptation of • Super-sized, Super-sof... and it works with any kind of chocolate candy - or chocolate chips if you prefer - and although bread flour is recommended, all purpose or gluten free flours work well, too.
Ingredients (my notes/ adaptations in parentheses):
2 sticks/ 8 oz unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 3/4 cups/ 370 g light brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup/ 113 g milk
2 3/4 cups/ 330 g bread flour*, divided
2 eggs, cold
1 tablespoon vanilla (1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons will do)
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups/ 12 ounces/ 340 g semisweet chocolate chunks or chips (10 oz/ 280 g is enough)
In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar and salt together. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Butter will foam, then as the foam subsides, brown bits will appear on the edges and bottom of the pot. As soon as the butter takes on a light brown color (6-7 minutes), pour it into the bowl with the brown sugar and whisk. The sugar will melt and the mixture will not be totally smooth. To the slightly cooled saucepan (no need to wash it), add the milk and 3 tablespoons/ 23 grams of the bread flour and whisk until smooth. Cook over low heat, whisking, then stirring, until the mixture is so thick that it begins to hold together (mine took 3 minutes). Whisk into the sugar mixture until mostly smooth. Add vanilla and eggs and whisk until smooth. Stir together remaining flour, baking powder, and baking soda, then add to the sugar-butter mixture and whisk until all flour is incorporated. Allow dough to cool for a few minutes, then stir in candy pieces. Press dough into a lined/ greased 9x13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 34-38 minutes, until a toothpick comes out damp but clean.
*Bread flour is recommended, but all purpose flour works, too; the bars will not be quite as chewy, but still delicious. Gluten free bread flour or gluten free all purpose flour also work quite well.
**You can substitute chocolate chips or chopped chocolate; if using bittersweet chocolate you may want to increase the brown sugar by a few tablespoons.
Yield: One 9x13 inch pan of cookie bars
Storage: Cookies will stay soft in the center for 5 days; cookie dough can and should be refrigerated for 1-3 days or frozen for months
#blondies #chocolatechipcookies #brownbutter #galletascaseras #cookies #halloween #trickortreating