We are on a bit of a maple kick around here lately. After years of talking about it, we finally took advantage of the massive sugar maple trees in our yard and made our own maple syrup this year. We were lucky enough to catch the first big run of sap right on time, so we had more sap than we knew what to do with! It was SO much fun! We had a short stretch of record-breaking, gorgeously mild weather around here in February and it was the perfect opportunity to spend a few days playing outside while we boiled our sap over the fire. Our tiny helper had a great time helping collect the sap while riding around on Papa's back. (Reason 3,648 that living in Michigan is the BEST EVER.)

I've been working on testing several recipes using our homemade maple syrup, and these blondies were a great place to start. They're VERY similar to the blondies at Applebee's...but better. Packed with pecans and chunks of white chocolate, and a hint of maple syrup, these Maple Pecan Blondies are soft and buttery and amazing. Top them with vanilla ice cream and some warm maple butter sauce and they're truly unforgettable.

Making homemade maple syrup is a time-consuming affair, but a fun one. Especially if you've got a sweet little helper to keep an eye on the fire with you. The boiling of the sap is best done outdoors due to the huge amount of water that needs to be boiled out of the sap. There's a steady cloud of steam for several hours. It makes for a good facial while you wait.

Enough about making maple syrup for this post...time for some blondies!

(Scroll down page for printable version of this recipe.)

Maple Pecan Blondies with Maple Butter Sauce

Ingredients

For the Blondies-

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature +1 tablespoon for pan

1 ½ cups brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 cup pecan pieces, divided

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

For the Sauce-

⅓ cup pure maple syrup

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup heavy cream

½ cup pecan pieces

Directions

Make the Blondies-

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil. Coat foil with 1 tablespoon butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and maple syrup. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Using a food processor or blender, pulse ½ cup of the pecan pieces a few times until nearly fine. (Do not over-blend or you will end up with pecan butter.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the fine pecan pieces, flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in remaining ½ cup of pecan pieces, and the white chocolate chunks.

Spread into prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes, until edges are golden.

Make the Maple Butter Sauce-

In a small saucepan, heat the maple syrup and butter over medium heat. Do not stir, just gently swirl the pan a few times. Simmer a few minutes until bubbling and slightly thickened. Add cream to the pan (do not stir), and continue cooking another few minutes until sauce comes together and gets syrupy and thickens. Swirl the pan as needed to combine the ingredients.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and top with the Maple Butter Sauce and pecan pieces.