Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pumpkin, Oatmeal, Butterscotch Blondies





This past weekend was a busy one for us, with mom and dad and kids going in several directions, several times. I dislike those kinds of weekends immensely, but they happen. I did manage to carve out time for a nice dinner Saturday evening, and afterward I decided a sweet treat was in order. Because I didn't start them until after dinner, I didn't want to bake cookies (and be in the kitchen for an hour), so these bars were perfect. When I asked my guys if they wanted some Pumpkin Butterscotch Bars (I intentionally left out the word "oatmeal" when I asked) they said "Nah." Huh? I decided to make them anyway, and they loved them (even after they found out there was oatmeal in them).

These little babies will definitely be an annual event.

They are a combination of several recipes, and I subbed out three-quarters of the all-purpose flour with oat flour (or blended oatmeal) because I could not find a recipe which used oats and had a blondie texture. If you are not so keen on oats, just use all-purpose flour (though I can't guarantee the same texture), and if you eat gluten-free, I bet you can use a gluten-free flour mix in place of the all-purpose.

These fell apart quite a bit when they were warm, so I should tell you to let them cool before cutting and eating, but they were so good when they were warm, I really can't tell you that. When they cooled, the butterscotch chips hardened up, so they had a bit of a crunch to them -- very different from the warm texture, but still very, very good.




Pumpkin, Oatmeal, Butterscotch Blondies
makes 20-24

½ c. oat flour (blend oatmeal in your processor or blender)
 ½ c. all-purpose flour

2 t. cinnamon *
½ t. ginger *

¼ t. ground cloves *
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 ¼ c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin (not pie filling -- just pumpkin)
12 oz. bag butterscotch chips


Preheat the oven to 350° F. 

Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree (it might look curdled, but that's ok). With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting (or not).

To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the parchment and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares (I lift the paper back in the pan then, just to contain the mess).




* if you have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute 1 tablespoon for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves.




3 comments:

Lori N from MN said...

Oh Barbara, these sound delicious. My youngest girl loves anything pumpkin... I think she's in for a treat this week (as are the rest of us)!

Anne said...

Oh my goodness this sounds like a great combination!! I'm not huge on butterscotch but I think they'd be perfect in pumpkin blondies. I'll be eager to try these making dairy subs for Charles. I'm made Kimberlee's pumpkin cake/bread twice now this season - delicious!!!

Lisa said...

These sound great; festive and delicious. I can't wait to try them!