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​Makes 12 servings. 
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
     ♥ 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
     ♥ 1 cup flour
     ♥ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
     ♥ 1/4 teaspoon salt
     ♥ 1 cup brown sugar
     ♥ 1 egg
     ♥ 1 teaspoon vanilla
Steps:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease an 8x8 pan with butter or oil. 
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue to heat butter until brown. It should have a nutty aroma and be foamy. Set aside in a large bowl.
  3. Sift dry ingredients (minus sugar) into a small bowl. Whisk.
  4. In the large bowl, whisk sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk again.
  5. Slowly whisk in the dry ingredients until just combined. This will ensure that your blondies aren’t too cakey. 
  6. Pour your batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes.
  7. Cut the blondies with love and enjoy! ♥
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When I was younger, I remember coming home after school, legs aching from the short walk between my elementary school and my house, with a smile on my face despite it. My smile would only grow with the familiar waft of butterscotch, alerting me that my mom had made blondies. 
Blonde brownies were a rarity that me and my siblings would devour in two days (at most). I remember always wondering how such delicious things could come from a printed recipe in a big white binder. I always tried to sneak a peek, thinking there must be some magical, secret ingredient like fairy dust or elf tears, because the taste of a blonde brownie is the sweet taste of home. 
​​I remember my first attempt at blondies. I gathered the ingredients and mixing spoons. I set the oven to 350. After half an hour of pouring and mixing, the batter was in the pan and ready for the oven. I put them in and waited anxiously for another half hour. When the blondies were cool enough to cut, I wasted no time getting one on my plate and taking the first bite. As I chewed and swallowed, I realized that, despite the butterscotch smell, the delightful taste, and the soft, crunchy-edged feel, it wasn’t the same. Sitting at the dining room table, I realized that blonde brownies were not the same without three secret ingredients that I never knew because they weren’t simple enough to write in a recipe: love, laughter, and family.