These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were born from an “I want to bake right now” mood.
On Tuesday night during my run I decided that I was going to go home and bake afterwards. Throughout my last few miles I was mentally going through my pantry, trying to figure out what I could make that would be simple, quick, and delicious.
Blondies, of course! That would be perfect.
Blondies are so easy to throw together. As long as you have butter, flour, sugar, and an egg you’re all set! And who is not consistently stocked up with these things?!
One of the fun things about blondies is that you can add whatever mix-ins you have in your pantry. Luckily I had just stocked up on various nuts and dried fruits and knew I had some sort of chip (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or butterscotch) stored in my freezer.
After getting home and physically looking at my pantry I decided that cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were the way to go.
But, PROBLEM. I was out of vanilla extract. How in the heck does that even happen?! Butter, sugar, flour, eggs, I had, but no vanilla. Gahhh. Oh well, I was too excited about the idea of these to give up, so I just nixed the vanilla.
And you know what? They still turned out amazing. The sweetness of the butterscotch and cherries made the vanilla unnecessary. Thank goodness.
(Note to self: add vanilla extract to my grocery shopping list. Flour too, just in case.)
An awesome thing about baking blondies is that you don’t need a mixer. You can make them with a medium saucepan, a large spoon, and some measuring equipment. Cleanup is also super quick, which is always a bonus.
These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies are perfect for those “I need to bake right now” moments (or even for planned baking events). They are gooey, full of texture, quick, easy, and so delicious!
Know who would really love and appreciate them? Your mom.
I mean that seriously, it wasn’t one of those “your mom” jokes.
- 1 cup walnuts, halved or coarsely chopped
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup butterscotch chips, divided
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup dried tart cherries
- Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil spray.
- Spread the walnuts on a baking pan and toast in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice to ensure they don’t burn. Once toasted, set aside.
- Melt the butter and ¼ cup butterscotch chips in a medium saucepan.
- Mix in the brown sugar until smooth, then beat in the egg.
- Stir in the flour until just combined.
- Fold in the walnuts, cherries, and remaining butterscotch chips (feel free to save a little of each to sprinkle on the top).
- Place batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. It will be thick. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts, cherries, and butterscotch chips on top (if you remembered to save them) and pat down slightly.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes.
- Cool completely before removing bars from the pan. Then cut and enjoy!
Speaking of moms, my mom and I are going to go run the Fargo Half Marathon! RIGHT NOW. It’s my 5th (I think?) half and my mom’s 1st! She’s going to be awesome. Then we’re going to go to the cabin and spend the rest of the weekend relaxing. It’ll be perfect.
Sending lots of love to all the moms out there! You’re amazing. xoxo
