Maple Butterscotch Brownies

We're always looking for something sweet after dinner and lately the pickins' have been a little slim. I have a tendency to give away part or all of the desserts I make because we usually can't eat the entire dessert before it goes stale or becomes another shade of ookie.

Browsing the cookbook shelf (shelves), I pulled out Taste of Homes's Complete Guide to Baking from 2004. I was looking for something that had simple ingredients already in the cabinet and these Maple Butterscotch Brownies jumped out at me.

They're easy to throw together and bake up nicely into a moist, lightly sweet, wonderfully maple-flavored bar.

The recipe is slightly altered to use pecans on top instead of walnuts in the batter. I think pecans and maple just go together and it's just right on this combination. Plus, Bret the pecan hater can pick it off the top if he wants to.

Anything with maple flavoring is tops on my list, and these bars are chuck full of that Vermont tree juice. It's one of those bars that you keep going back to and sneaking a bit here and there. I can always blame it on the dog, I guess.

We'll be finishing these Maple Butterscotch Brownies for sure and not be giving any away - this time at least.

Bret thinks they need frosting, but he thinks everything except barbecue needs frosting. Don't let the simplicity of these bars fool you - they are packed with flavor and are wonderful.

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Maple Butterscotch Brownies

Yield: 16 - 20

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Wonderful little maple-flavored snacking bars.

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Ingredients

• 1 ¼ C packed brown sugar
• ½ C melted butter
• 1 ½ teaspoon maple flavoring
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ C all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 20 pecan halves

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare an 8 or 9" square pan with parchment paper (or spray with Pam).
2. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter and maple flavoring.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add slowly into the egg mixture and mix.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place the pecan halves in rows on top of the batter, pressing lightly so they won't fall off.  
4. Bake bars at 350 degrees for 27-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into 16 - 20 bars.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The original recipe added 1 cup of chopped walnuts to the batter.  That would be fine, although I think pecans go better with the maple flavor.

You can dust powdered sugar over the top if you want them to look prettier.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1 bar
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 100mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 2g

Nutrition Values are Approximate