Salted Caramel Blondies

As I've said before, I love participating in recipe swaps.  It forces you to venture outside of your normal recipes and try something new.  When I saw a posting for a dessert swap, I jumped at the chance to participate.  I sent off a favorite family cookie recipe and anxiously awaited my assignment.  I got the e-mail with a link to Peace, Love and French Fries (a sentiment that I agree with) for Salted Caramel Blondies.  It sounded so delicious, but seemed like something that I wouldn't have picked out of a book to make on my own.  The best kind of assignment!

What was even better - I looked at the list of ingredients and the only things I needed to buy were butter (I had just used up the last of my supply) and caramel sauce.  It cost me less than $10 to make this, using almost everything straight from my pantry.  It probably would have cost me less, but I didn't want to drive across town to the bigger grocery store, so I went to my favorite local place which only seemed to carry organic caramel sauce.

The third great thing about the timing of this - we were invited to a Labor Day weekend barbeque.  So this was the perfect treat to bring!

The blondies were super easy to make.  The only things that I'd do differently next time, is that I'd make sure the caramel doesn't go all the way to the edges, and I'd use a shallower spoon to drop the top layer of batter on.  I used a deep tablespoon and then had to spread out the batter to cover the wholes.

These tasted delicious, and went over very well at the barbeque!

Salted Caramel Blondies (as posted on Peace, Love, and French Fries)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt, divided
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup caramel sauce (homemade or store bought)

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a glass 9×13 dish with cooking spray.
- Pour sugar into a large bowl.  Add melted butter and stir until smooth.  Cool to room temperature. 
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Set aside. 
- Beat eggs and vanilla into the sugar/butter mixture.  Add the flour mixture a bit at a time and mix until a smooth, thick batter forms. 
- Spread half the batter in the bottom of the baking dish.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until batter starts to firm.  Remove from oven.
- Drizzle caramel sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle other 1/2 tsp of salt over the top.
- Carefully drop spoonfuls of remaining batter over the caramel, smoothing it out as best you can.  Top with an additional sprinkle of salt, if desired.
-Return to oven, bake an additional 12-14 minutes.
- Let cool before slicing and serving.