Butterscotch Cashew Bars

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 ¼ tsp salt
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
11 ounces butterscotch chips
¾ cup light corn syrup*
1 TBSP plus 1 tsp water
2 cups roasted salted whole cashews

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9″x 13″ pan with cooking spray.
Using two sheets of parchment paper, line the pan’s width and length, creating a parchment “sling.” Spray parchment paper with cooking spray.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt for 1 to 1 & 1/2 minutes. Decrease mixer speed to low and add the flour. Mix just until combined. Lightly press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crust is a golden color. Remove to wire rack to cool.
In a heavy saucepan over low heat, stir together butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and water. Stir until mixture comes to a simmer and butterscotch chips are melted. Pour over crust.
Sprinkle cashews over the butterscotch caramel. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. After cooling, remove from pan and use a very sharp knife to cut into bars.Makes 2 dozen 2-inch bars.
Source:The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
* I was out of corn syrup and instead substituted 3/4 cup light brown sugar + a little less than 1/4 cup water + ~1/8 cup honey...

Permutations on Brickle

Not to mess with perfection, but I got a wild hair to start experimenting with different variations on brickle.

The pics here are of 4 different permutations:

1. Gingersnap base (coarsely broken gingersnaps) with semisweet chocolate and sea salt on top

2. Gingersnap base with butterscotch morsels (need longer in oven to melt!) and sea salt on top

3. Newman's Own Ginger-O's cream-filled ginger cookies, split open and broken as base, with melted chocolate and sea salt on top
4. Newman's Own Ginger-O's as base with melted butterscotch morsels and sea salt on top.

Prepare as in original brickle recipe, or try out new combos.

I thought I would have a favorite...and yet all are delicious :-)

Pumpkin Blondies

Fall has always been my favorite season o' eating (hmmm, though I might say this around Christmas too...and spring when berries are in season...and...never mind, let's just say I love fall food). This year is no different for the most part, except I have a little more time to actually bake now that that whole pesky dissertation thing is behind me :-)
I keep reading about pumpkin blondie variations, and decided to go with one from Annie's Eats.
I pretty much followed the recipe, but have added a few more details/very slight twists below.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate, butterscotch chips, and nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

Ginger Butter Bars

I had a box of gingerbread mix laying around after the holidays and I wanted to do something different with it. The result was unexpectedly very good...

• 1 box Krusteaz Gingerbread Mix (unfortunately only sold near the holidays I think)
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
• Butterscotch ice cream topping

Directions

Heat oven to 350.

Grease an 8x8 pan.

Mix gingerbread mix, butter, and eggs.

Add in butterscotch chips and spread in pan.

Drizzle butterscotch topping over top, about 2-3 Tbsp or so.

Bake for ~25min or until a knife comes out nearly clean