When my husband and I decided to get a rescue dog, we truly had no idea what we were signing up for. While I grew up with dogs, none of them prepared me for the part wrecking ball, part puppy that is Doug. He is alert, needy, loud, sweet, always ready to play, and lives off of a steady diet of kibble, treats, and carrots. This sudden influx of carrots has me thinking a lot about carrot desserts.
While everyone might immediately go to carrot cake—which is decidedly delicious—I wanted something that could be put together quickly and wouldn’t require me to pull out my stand mixer. Enter the blondie. With a similar makeup to the brownie (minus the chocolate), these treats are sweet, moist, and chewy, making them a perfect vessel for add-ins like carrots and walnuts. To further crank up the flavor, we’re adding maple syrup, fall spices, and my favorite, browned butter.
Browned Butter Maple Carrot Blondies to Be More Precise
Browned butter adds a complex, nutty, and caramely flavor to whatever you put it in. So, while I am not a fan of asking folks to pull out an extra pan, it really is worth it. On the plus side, you only need one additional bowl for this recipe. We are basically browning the butter, tossing the rest of our liquid ingredients in with it, and then dumping that whole delicious mess into our dry ingredients.
I am in love with combining carrots and walnuts, but if you prefer pecans, I’m not going to stop you. Additionally, I’ve made this recipe without nuts altogether and instead used 1/3C of white chocolate chips. If this is what you’re into, I’d recommend forgoing the glaze, as it can start getting overly sweet.
In my humble opinion, this is the perfect treat for an afternoon lull. You know the one. Where it’s 2:30 p.m. and you’ve lost the will to keep working, but here you are working? You want something with sugar but not so much sugar that your brain goes on holiday. These blondies will get you over the hump. Whether you have these in the morning, afternoon, or night, I hope you enjoy!
Sweet, chewy, and perfectly spiced, these blondies have it all! If you want to do some fall baking, but are tired of apples and pumpkins, these are the treats for you.
Ingredients
Scale
For the blondies:
3/4C unsalted butter
3/4C light brown sugar, lightly packed
2T maple syrup
1t vanilla extract
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/4C all purpose flour
1t ground cinnamon
1/2t ground ginger
1/2t ground nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1/2t baking powder
3/4t kosher salt
3/4C shredded carrots (about 2 large carrots)
1/3C toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
For the glaze:
1T unsalted butter, melted
1T maple syrup
1/4C – 1/2C powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the browned butter: Add the butter to a saucepan on medium heat. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir your butter. It will go from liquid to bubbling/foamy in about 5 minutes. When you start to smell a nutty aroma and see brown bits at the bottom of the pan take it off the heat. Let the butter cool before proceeding.
Preheat the oven to 350F, line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
Add the brown sugar and maple syrup to the saucepan with your browned butter. Whisk to break up any lumps of brown sugar.
Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until glossy and homogenous and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, baking powder, and salt.
Dump the contents of the saucepan into the flour mixture and gently fold everything together.
Add the shredded carrots and walnuts and mix again. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into the 8×8 pan. The mixture is very thick, so use a rubber offset spatula to push it into the corners and make an even layer.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool the blondies in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing and allowing to completely cool on a wire rack.
Make the glaze: In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, maple syrup, and 1/4C powdered sugar. Whisk until there are no lumps. If you would like a thicker glaze, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time until you get a consistency you like. (Personally, 1/4C works great for me.)
Using a spoon or fork, drizzle stripes of glaze over the cooled blondies—allowing the glaze to harden before cutting and serving.