Salted caramel snickerdoodle blondies

A ‘fun for the whole family’ baking project!

These chewy squares are a fun way to enjoy the delicious flavours of classic snickerdoodle cookies. They’re super easy to make – like me, you probably won’t miss the tedious step of rolling dough balls then coating them in sugar – and would be a great baking project to enjoy with little ones. They freeze well also. If you can’t find salted caramel baking chips, butterscotch chips would be a good option.

Ingredients

Blondie batter:

• 1 cup (227 g) softened butter
• 2 cups (400 g) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vanilla extract
• 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (20 g) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
• 1 teaspoon (2.65 g) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (.6 g) freshly ground cardamom or nutmeg
• 1 cup (170 g) salted caramel baking chips

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (2.65 g) ground cinnamon
• Pinch freshly ground cardamom or nutmeg

Method

• Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 9×13 inch (22.5×32.5 cm) baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Cream butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes (use a stand or electric mixer if you have one). Add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Beat in vanilla then stir in the dry ingredients and baking chips.
• Press dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon to make it as even as possible. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top. If baking with kids, it might be easiest to put the topping mix in a clean, empty shaker jar (like a spice or baking sprinkles jar) so they can apply it evenly.
• Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until the top is just starting to crack and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Don’t overbake or the snickerdoodle blondies won’t be chewy.
• Let cool and cut into squares.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days and freeze for longer storage.

Makes one large pan.