Brownies and blondies are always crowd-pleasers, and while you might think of them as lunchbox snacks, I often bake them for more “grown-up” gatherings, as well. These Salted Butterscotch Coconut Blondies are loaded with flavor, with a great brown sugar and vanilla base and just enough salt to give them the perfect salty-sweet contrast.

Butterscotch is a caramel flavor that has a combination of brown sugar and vanilla. The blondie batter uses light brown sugar and a nice splash of vanilla to give it a strong butterscotch flavor. I added butterscotch chips – which can be very sweet on their own, but work very well here – to fortify that flavor and make the bars feel richer. The bars also have a generous amount of sweetened, shredded coconut in the mix. The coconut gives the bars a nice chewy texture and makes them feel a bit heartier as you’re eating them. To me, this means that you have a little bit more time to savor each bite as you much your way through them.

Don’t forget to sprinkle a big pinch of salt over the top of the bars before baking them. Coarse or kosher salt is going to contrast really well with the butterscotch because the larger grains of salt come through a bit better in the end. Table salt can be used, but will end up delivering a more subtle salty element.

I baked these in a 9×9-inch square pan and you can squish the recipe down to an 8×8-inch pan if you need to. The recipe can also be doubled to fill a 9×13-inch pan in order to serve a crowd. If you do end up doubling the recipe, the baking time won’t need to change by more than a couple of minutes, so just keep an eye on them as they’re baking.

Salted Butterscotch Coconut Blondies
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp coarse/kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9×9-inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring only until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the butterscotch chips and coconut by hand.
Spread batter into prepared pan, using a lightly greased spatula to even it out. Sprinkle generous 1/4 tsp coarse/kosher salt evenly over the top of the bars.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with only a few crumbs.
Cool blondies in the pan before slicing.

Makes 16

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