Melody's Butterscotch Squares

Also known as blondies!

Now, I love chocolate. There’s nothing like having a fudgy brownie, fluffy chocolate cake, or slathering spoonfuls of Nutella onto crusty bread. Long time readers will remember that some of my favorite recipes I’ve ever done for this blog have involved chocolate, like that delicious flourless chocolate cake or my hands down favorite cake recipe for chocolate war cake. 

But not everyone shares my enthusiasm for chocolate. Of course there are people with allergies – my art teacher growing up suddenly developed an allergy to chocolate as an adult and was always sad she couldn’t indulge in one of her favorite treats – but others just don’t like it. We’d always tease one of my best friends growing up for hating any kind of chocolate, but still wearing her mom’s old sweatshirt that declared an undying love for the stuff. 

In honor of those people, I’ve turned to something with no chocolate in it at all, that’s also perfect for a summer bake sale.

Summer is a great time to host a bake sale, which is a great way to raise money for causes you care about, like cleaning up your community playground or park. When looking for inspiration for a baked treat to bring, Melody might have turned to a Pillsbury Cookbook. Companies often produce cookbooks spotlighting ingredients they sell to encourage you to keep buying their products. Your brand loyalty to their products might also encourage you to buy the cookbook, making it a win, win business model for the company! 

The Pillsbury Company has been publishing cookbooks for over a hundred years, and the 1963 edition includes the recipe I’m going to share with you today. 

These butterscotch squares are essentially blondies, but definitely have a very strong butterscotch flavor, making them pretty different from other blondies I’ve eaten. Butterscotch is a British invention that probably hit shelves in the form of hard candy in the mid 19th century, but its exact origins are unknown. It remained a super popular flavor in the United Kingdom and branched into the United States around the turn of the 20th century. Although it’s not a super popular flavor, it still appears in ice cream sundaes, candies, and these super tasty little squares. 

Butterscotch isn’t entirely dissimilar from caramel, and while this recipe doesn’t make a true butterscotch, it still requires some careful watching so you don’t burn your ingredients. 

To start, melt 1/3 of a cup of butter on the stove. Add 1 cup of packed brown sugar and stir until dissolved together. The original recipe said to take it off the heat as you did this, but my sugar and butter didn’t seem to want to combine in any meaningful way when it was off the heat, so I put it back on and stirred until it started to look like the sugar actually melted down. Mine started to get that bubbly consistency that looks a little like you’re making caramel or candy.

The mixture gets really thick and sticky.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. The recipe suggests you use 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips if desired, but since I was going for a chocolate free treat, I added a full cup of macadamia nuts. Since I’m moving, I’m trying to use up things in my pantry so I have less stuff to pack, and I had leftovers from the muffins I made for Nanea. 

After leaving the sugar and butter mixture to cool for a while, mix in one egg and one egg yolk along with a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix in your dry ingredients, and then pour the mixture into a buttered pan.

This cooks in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes. Mine came out fully cooked after 30, but as you’ll remember, my oven seems to run cooler than other people’s. I’m a little sad that I’m going to have to relearn a new oven when I move into my new place.

Cut them into squares and you’re ready to enjoy!

Or ready to sell them at a bake sale!

I brought these in to work to get my coworker’s opinions, and everyone’s reviews were largely quite positive. I found out that one of my colleagues gets tired of chocolate, and was excited to have something a little different to snack on, so that’s a success! The squares were nice and soft, with an obvious but not overwhelming taste of butterscotch. The macadamia nuts probably could have done with being a little less prominent in the mixture, but I like macadamia nuts and they added a pleasant crunch. 

It’s always fun to give vintage recipes a try, even when it’s something from a more modern period like the 1960’s. Getting a peek into what Melody might have tried her hand at baking for a fundraiser is just as exciting for me as untangling a weird colonial pudding or Victorian cookies. Hopefully you’ll enjoy them if you try them out too!

What vintage recipe would you bring to a bake sale?