Brown Butter Blondies with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Instructions

1. Bake the Blondies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, buttering tops of the parchment. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, cooking and stirring until the butter is just browned (be careful not to cook too long or it’ll burn). Pour butter into a large bowl and add brown sugar. Whisk until combined and butter is slightly cooled. Add in egg, vanilla and salt, mixing well to combine thoroughly. Gently fold in flour then chopped chocolate. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then carefully lift out of pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack
2. Prepare Salted Caramel: In medium saucepan, heat sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly. Don’t worry when you see the sugar becoming clumpy. It will begin to melt into an amber colored liquid as you continue to heat and stir it. Keep an eye on it, as you don’t want it to burn. Once sugar is completely melted, add in butter (be careful, it may splatter!) and whisk until fully incorporated. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream while stirring the mixture. Boil for one minute then remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Allow to cool while you make the buttercream
3. Make the Buttercream:  In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment affixed, combine the confectioner’s sugar, butter and heavy cream, mixing until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Turn the mixer off, add in the cooled salted caramel sauce (reserve a small amount to drizzle on top later) and stir to combine evenly
4. Frost the blondies: Spread the buttercream evenly over the cooled blondies, then drizzle the reserved salted caramel over top. Cut into small squares and dive in!