Butter Rum Blondies

At work recently, there was the dilemma of extra butter. There was a pound of butter there, and I think it may have been opened, but maybe only a tablespoon had been used. I kept meaning to ask about it, and it was not getting any newer sitting in the refrigerator, so I asked around. While we aren’t 100% sure about the origin of the butter, I said I would be happy to take it and transform it into cookies. I am sure you aren’t surprised that was an acceptable idea!

The butter was salted butter, which is different than I typically use, but it isn’t too hard to adjust for salt in a recipe or two. For this recipe, using salted butter, I simply left out the additional ½ teaspoon of salt. I am not normally someone who leaves out salt, as that adds a lot of flavor, but there was salt in the butter, the toffee chips, and so on. I figured I would be fine.

These bars are quick and easy to come together. I wanted to make sure that these contained no chocolate, and usually the store carries two types of toffee bits: with and without chocolate coating. I had ones with chocolate so I picked up some chocolate-free ones to have on hand. I was worried that these would look a little plain, but they were beautiful when they came out of the oven and cut so easily!

Butter Rum Blondies
¾ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½-1 teaspoon rum extract
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup toffee bits
Additional toffee bits, if desired

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and rum extract. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the toffee bits.

Spread the dough into the prepared pan. If desired, top with additional toffee bits.

Bake for 23-26 minutes, until golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe from The Country Cook