Blondies weren’t exactly what I set out to make — I was aiming for cookie bars, but sometimes you get a nice surprise when you experiment. I happen to love pudding cookies, they come out all soft and cake-y, and when chips are added in, you get little nuggets of happiness that add to the texture. So this time around, I went for caramel pudding cookies, having found caramel pudding at the grocery store recently, with toffee bits added in. But since I was feeling lazy, I threw everything into a 9×13 pan (OK, 9.25×13.25) and let it bake. Since it came out looking so plain, I made a quick caramel glaze/frosting to slop over it all. The end result? More like a cake-y brownie and super sweet. But not exactly what I would call a failure either, especially if you toss on a scoop of vanilla ice cream! — Sherry
Ingredients
For the cookie/blondies:
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 package caramel pudding
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 bag Heath toffee bits
For the glaze/frosting:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbs. milk or cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Cream butter and brown sugar, then add pudding mix. Mix in eggs, one at a time, with vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in toffee bits. Spread into pan and bake 20 – 25 minutes (I started checking at 20 minutes, and pulled out the pan at 26 minutes). Let cool completely.
To make glaze, melt butter in pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and let boil for one minute. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled bars. (Note: You’ll have to work quickly here, the caramel glaze sets up fast.)