Minnie Lane's One Pot One Pan Butterscotch Brownies

Today is my two year blog anniversary, and to celebrate I'm giving all of you a little gift: an old family recipe for blondies, or as we always called them, butterscotch brownies.

My husband's grandmother, Minnie, lived to age 90 and was quite the character. Opinionated, feisty, and outspoken. She was also thrifty and handy, she sewed clothes for herself and her daughters, and was an excellent cook. I have a few of her recipes, and the one that I make over and over is her Butterscotch Brownies, which combine ease of preparation with chewy texture and meltingly sweet taste.

These blondies don't have any baking chips stirred in; instead they get their butterscotch-y goodness from butter and dark brown sugar. The other virtue of the recipe? It can be made with a minimum of fuss and dirty dishes. Using a good digital kitchen scale, you can whip up a batch of blondies with a cooking pot, a spoon, a measuring spoon, and a baking pan!

the recipe:

Butterscotch Brownies

1 stick butter (115 g, 4 oz)
2 cups firmly-packed dark brown sugar (350 g, 12.25 oz)
2 eggs (100 g without shell, about 112g including the shell)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (212 g, 7.5 oz)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Butter and flour a 9" x 13" baking pan.

3. In large saucepan, melt 1 stick butter. Stir in remaining ingredients in order listed above.

4. Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Brownies are done when a knife inserted in center of pan comes out clean.

5. Cool on a wire rack in the pan. When cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into 1" squares.