Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Super rich and sweet! Almond like a cross between caramel fudge and blondies.
Texture: My favorite part. Chewy yet gooey, crunchy yet soft, everything you could want in a single bite!
Ease: Quite simple and easy. The hardest part is how long these thick bars take to bake and cool…
Pros: Fun twist on a blondie, and perfect for fall.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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Many of my most popular Instagram images feature the most ooey, gooey, and sinful treats I’ve managed to create.
You know the photos. Where you can basically see what taking a bite would feel like. That’s not easy to accomplish, but I think we’ve managed to do it here with these Caramel Pecan Blondies.
Can’t you just imagine yourself taking a bite out of one of these? The chewy blondies, the gooey caramel, and the crunchy pecans?
It’s a trifecta of textures that can’t be matched. Plus I just love that there’s a small fall twist on these blondies that makes them perfect now that the weather is cooling off.
Although I cut these into big squares in these photos, these blondies are ultra rich and definitely on the sweet side. If you’re serving a crowd cutting smaller pieces will absolutely suffice.
This recipe is actually super simple, too. The caramel in the middle is “short cut” caramel using melted down caramel squares from the store. I used the Kraft brand. I would also recommend using a metal pan to bake these, at they’ll cook much quicker. Glass or ceramic will cook much slower.
If you decide to give this recipe a try, be sure to snap a photo to share, tagging me and #handletheheat on Instagram!
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Ingredients
For the blondies:
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups (400 grams) dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon molasses, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
For the caramel pecan filling:
- 25 soft caramel candies, unwrapped (200 grams)
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch pan with foil or parchment. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Don’t skip this, the caramel filling gets sticky!
Make the blondies:
- In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, egg yolk, molasses, and vanilla and stir until combined. Stir in the salt and flour.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top begins to set. Keep oven at 350°F.
Make the filling:
- Meanwhile, combine the unwrapped candies with the cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in the pecans.
- Pour the caramel over the middle of the bottom baked blondie layer. Pour the remaining batter over the caramel layer is completely covered.
- Return to the 350°F oven and bake for another 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Let cool completely before chopping into bars with a big sharp knife. Wipe the blade with hot water for cleaner slices.
- Serve or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Photos by Lauren J. Photography.
I had similar issues as Allison, I used werthers soft caramels too and a glass baking pan.
I ended up just layering the caramel and pecans even though the bottom layer was not done cooking- it all melted together, I tried to put top layer over it but that melted together too. It did cook through in the 30 min and its cooling now, I cut a side piece and its all melted together but it’s not burned (because I didn’t cook bottom completely it was soft and mushy in center, set on edges) it is still good just not as pretty as pictured. I am going to try it again tho, I found Kraft caramel round baking pieces, maybe try those and a metal pan next time??
Can I use caramel sauce?
This looks incredible! Yum!
Hello, I’ve two questions
can I skill the molasses !!
Can I use light brown sugar instead of dark?
Thank you
Made these today and they are so gooey that they were hard to cut and didn’t stay together. They were definitely cooked all the way so I am not sure what happened. I also made sure to wait till they were completely cooled.
Hi, Kristin! I’m sorry to hear that! I know a few other people have successfully made this recipe so I have a couple ideas of what could’ve gone wrong. Firstly, what kind of baking pan did you use?
Hi cant wait to make these can I use my canibus simple syrup in this recipe… it’s a lot thinner than molasses or even regular syrup but I want the cbd benefit…
Thanks for the great recipe.
In my country we do not have caramels.. Can I use home made caramel sauce instead? or homemade caramel candies?
Amazing trifecta! Thank you for sharing these! Nice combination of texture and flavor, good tip too about serving them in smaller sizes given how sweet they are!
These look delicious!
wondering if I can use homemade caramel sauce?
Thanks
The caramel layer needs to be quite thick, when it goes onto the first layer. Microwaving the syrup until it thickens up would help.
Cheers for the super helpful pointers! Will hunt down those caramel goodies Happy baking!
The picture of the caramel pecan blondies looks like there is chocolate in them and I don’t see cocoa listed in the ingredients and am confused.
No chocolate or cocoa!
Hello Tessa! These look delectable! Thanks for posting yet another yummy recipe 🙂 I’m in Australia and am finding it super hard to source “soft caramels” as the ones sold here are hard caramel candies! I’m wondering what is meant by a soft caramel? Is that a jersey caramel?
Thanks a mill! 🙂
They are little squares of caramel that come individually wrapped that you can bite into and have a soft yet chewy texture. They’re most commonly sold under the brand Kraft here in the U.S. I believe it’s similar to jersey caramel but I’m not certain how that would work in this recipe. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
My caramel layer completely dissolved into the blondie. You definitely need the first layer to be almost solid before the caramel goes on. Unfortunately, the bottom was also overcooked by the time the top was baked. Think an adjustment on temperature or the consistency of the caramel is in order. I used Werther’s caramels.
Oh no, Allison! I’ve never used Wether’s soft caramels before, I’ve only ever seen their hard ones! Curious about that. What kind of baking pan did you use?