Thick and chewy brown butter blondies packed with pecans and ooey gooey pockets of Dulce de Leche!
As long as I can remember, I’ve been OBSESSED with caramel. Caramel Apples, Caramel Corn, Salted Caramels, Caramel Turtles, Caramel Sundaes–literally ANYthing with caramel in it OR on it, I’m allllll about! I honestly don’t think I’ve ever ordered a hot fudge sundae in my life–it’s always been caramel. My love of caramel most likely came from my mother who’s also just as addicted. She’s the one who introduced me to the satisfyingly sweet and silky liquified gold that is caramel.
From bread pudding to pies to cupcakes, I’ve got an abundance of caramel recipes on this blog. However, there’s a specific kind of caramel that I’ve been dying to wrap my tastebuds around–Dulce de leche. I’m sure most of you have heard of it before. It’s basically the Latin American version of caramel.
The difference between Dulce de leche and carmel is that caramel is made by cooking sugar until it liquifies into a toasty amber syrup. Cream is usually added at the end to create a creamier consistency. Dulce de leche, on the other hand, is made from slowly cooking sugar and cow’s milk together. As opposed to caramel which gets its golden hue from the caramelization of sugar, Dulce de leche achieves its color from the browning of the lactose and lysine in the milk.
The flavor is VERY similar to caramel. The major difference I notice is in the consistency. Dulce de leche has a thicker, more creamy texture than caramel. Caramel is thinner, thus more pourable.
Until now, it’s been nearly impossible for me to find dulce de leche in stores. Normally you can find it in the international aisle of most grocery stores, however, I could not for the life of me find it anywhere! Thankfully though, the Universe finally came through and I spotted it at a random store in my area. So you can bet I stocked up on SEVERAL cans of the stuff.
When I got home, I could not WAIT to create something absolutely heavenly with this decadent caramel spread. So aside from popping the can open and going at it with a spoon, I managed to gather enough restraint to make my very first Dulce de leche-inspired recipe…
These Dulce de Leche Blondies are undoubtedly one of the best blondies I’ve ever had. Not only are they baked to perfection with that wonderfully chewy, lusciously fudgy consistency, but they’ve got ooey gooey pockets of dulce de leche all throughout. It’s literally impossible to bite into this blondie and not hit a big pocket of delicious dulce de leche.
This recipe is actually pretty simple and straightforward. The blondie batter contains your typical ingredients–butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and vanilla. The only step I added was browning the butter. This is an absolute MUST if you want to amp up the flavor. Not only does it add a nice nuttiness to the blondies, but its toasty flavor complements the deliciously thick pockets of dulce de leche. I also used salted butter instead of unsalted since I’ve found that it has a stronger caramelized flavor when browned as opposed to unsalted.
To add a little crunch to the blondies, I tossed in some chopped pecans. Pecans and walnuts are my favorite nuts to add to blondies or brownies since their softer crunch (as opposed to peanuts or almonds) goes better with the denseness of the blondies.
While these handsome little devils are probably one of the most seductive things you’ll ever pull out of your oven, I strongly advise you to hold off cutting into them until they’ve cooled COMPLETELY. Not only does the blondie need a little extra time to set up, but the pockets of dulce de leche need to cool so that you don’t end up with puddles of dulce de leche everywhere.
Not that that would be a bad thing…
Dulce De Leche Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup pecans coarsely chopped
- 1 (13.4 oz) can Dulce De Leche
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, it’ll start to foam, then turn a clear golden color. Continue to stir the butter, scraping up any browned specks from the bottom of the pan as it starts to brown. It should have a nutty aroma.
- Once browned and nutty, turn off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the flour and baking powder and stir until just combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.
- Pour half of the batter into the baking pan. Dollop half of the dulce de leche evenly on top, then swirl with a knife. Pour the rest of the batter on top, followed by dollops of the rest of the dulce de leche, and swirl once again with a knife.*
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and the top of the blondies looks set. The center will still be jiggly, but the blondies will continue to bake as they cool. Allow blondies to cool completely before cutting into squares.