Butterscotch Walnut Blondies

I made butterscotch blondies to bring to a Thanksgiving gathering. We had to work the next day so we didn't go to visit our families, but our neighbors invited us to their family celebration. We were asked to make a dessert of some kind, and I wanted to make a pie but was recovering from being sick and was not quite up to the work. Then I decided since we knew the other desserts were going to be pie, maybe I'd do something that was not pie (and easier to make).

For most of my life blondies were never high on a list of desserts I'd actively choose to make/eat, but butterscotch ones made an appearance at a tae kwon do club post-promotion test dinner a couple of years ago (made by my friend Sarah, who introduces me to all kinds of new recipes) and I ate WAY more of them than anyone should because they were so delicious. I decided I needed to be able to make them too. They're an addictive combination of buttery, sweet, and salty. Kids love them too, or at least my neighbors' kids and their cousins did.

I made this recipe from My Kitchen Addiction, adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe.

My adjustments, mostly out of convenience rather than trying to improve the recipe:

• I lined the pan with parchment instead of greasing it (so you can lift the entire thing out of the pan easily, plus it's easier to clean).
• Since I didn't have butter rum extract, I put in about 1/2 tbsp of bourbon whiskey instead (increased the amount because I imagine butter rum extract is quite strong). I have also substituted spiced rum before, and I think I like the spiced rum better.
• I sprinkled fleur de sel on top of the batter before putting it in the oven.

I still don't know what recipe Sarah used and I feel like this one is good and close but it's not *exactly* what I was going for. Maybe the chocolate and shredded coconut in Dorie's recipe would help? I have also tried miso butterscotch blondies and I thought those were yummy, probably because of the extra layer of saltiness. I also seem to remember trying Smitten Kitchen's Blondies, Infinitely Adaptable with butterscotch chips (I didn't need an entire 9x13 pan of them, or so I thought) and I seemed to remember that batch being particularly good. I think next time I'll try the SK version again. Come to think of it, both SK and the miso ones had browned butter. Maybe that is what makes all the difference.

RECIPE: Butterscotch Walnut Blondies