Browned Butter Toffee Pecan Bites

It's funny how much I've neglected some of my baking supplies. I guess I've been in an ice cream/cookie bar funk. Now that I have a big beautiful kitchen to cook/bake in, I've actually pulled certain things out, dusted them off and started using them (like my mini loaf pan and mini pie maker). I just feel like things have been getting a bit static around here. Variety is the spice of life, right? That being said, this recipe uses a pan that I've only used ONCE: a mini cupcake pan. I used it a while ago for mini blueberry muffins, but I'm sad to say that is the only thing I have used it for. I even have some really cute liners for it. What a shame. Hopefully one day I'll use it for its intended purpose, who knows, maybe in the near future. Anyway, this past weekend we were craving something sweet. Since we both like toffee and nuts, I made a half batch of dough and baked up these little bites. I decided to brown the  butter, which makes it taste more nutty (and is fantastic in anything, but especially in this bread) because I figured that it would compliment the pecans nicely. These turned out to be really tasty, so much that they were gone in a few hours! Whether you brown the butter or not, these are definitely a great little treat!

Browned Butter Toffee Pecan Bites

Ingredients

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. brown sugar

6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature

1 egg

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. Health toffee bits

1/3 c. chopped pecans

Optional addition: 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a mini cupcake pan by lightly spraying it with Pam. Set aside.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. As butter begins to cook it will start to foam around the edges. When the foam and crackling stops it will begin to brown. During this process, swirl the pan to prevent burning. When the butter smells nutty remove the pan from the heat immediately and transfer into the bowl of a stand mixer (this will stop the cooking process). Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar for 30 seconds. Turn speed to low and add one egg at a time. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
5. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Fold in dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Gently fold in toffee bits and chopped pecans (mini chocolate chips too, if desired).

6. Scoop dough into prepared cupcake pan, filling each 3/4 of the way full. Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookie bites are golden brown in color (just remember if you're using a non-stick pan, they'll brown a lot more around the edges, so don't let them bake for too long). Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen- Blondies | Makes approximately 18-24 mini bites