This recipe is pulling double duty here – the caramel will set up to the perfect soft and chewy caramel candy texture, so this will make enough for half of the caramel to be allowed to set and get sliced up, wrapped, and snacked on – the other half we’ll use to swirl into the blondies. This caramel is aggressively spiced, courageously salted, and unabashedly sweet – adjust spice and salt to your taste level (or come on this journey with us).

Ingredients:

1 qt. / 4 cups apple cider

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113 g / 1 stick unsalted butter (8 Tbsp)

75 g / ¾ cup sugar 

55 g / ½ cup light brown sugar 

80 g / ⅓ cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp corn syrup

2 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp cardamom 

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp allspice 

(or, swap quantity for pre-mixed apple pie spice)

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Method:

• Add apple cider to a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium – reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cider has reduced to about ⅓ cup, the cider should be thick and syrupy. (The wider your saucepan, the quicker this process will go!)

• While the cider bubbles away, measure out the rest of your ingredients for caramel and the blondies. Preheat oven to 325f. 

• Once the cider has reduced, add the following to the saucepan: butter, sugar, corn syrup, heavy cream. Stir everything together until melted and homogenous, then cease stirring. 

• Attach a candy thermometer (if using) to the side of the pan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil without stirring (only swirling). 

• Bring mixture to 252f or soft ball stage if not using a thermometer. This should only take about five minutes at a rolling boil. 

• To test for soft ball stage: drop a bit of the hot caramel into a bowl of very cold water – the caramel should form a – you guessed it: soft ball.  When removed from the water it should resemble a soft, squishy ball that holds its shape for a second before warming from the heat of your hands. 

• Immediately remove from heat and stir in spices and salt. Proceed to blondies. 

NOTE: This recipe makes more caramel than you need for the blondies – so pro tip: pour leftover caramel into a greased and parchment lined dish, allow caramels to set until firm to the touch. Sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired, then slice into squares with a greased knife. Wrap your adorable caramels individually in wax paper salt-water-taffy-style. 

The white chocolate in this recipe (a tip from Tosi in the All About Cookies cookbook) is there to help mimic that fudgy texture you get from adding chocolate to a brownie, not for flavor. 

Ingredients:

226g / 2 sticks (16 Tbsp) unsalted butter 

250g / 1 ½ cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour 

100g / 1 cup sugar 

110g / 1 cup light brown sugar (packed) 

120g / ⅔ cup white chocolate chips 

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla extract 

2 tsp kosher salt 

1 tsp cinnamon 

½ tsp baking powder 

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½ recipe of apple cider caramel (1 cup) (above) 

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Method:

• Preheat oven to 325f and grease Made In x Milk Bar 8 x 8 baking dish. 

• Mix together the flour, spices, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl, set aside. 

• In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and white chocolate together in 30 second bursts, stirring in between each round until fully combined. 

• Measure out your sugars into a large bowl, then add your melted white chocolate/butter mixture. Whisk together until all is combined and the sugars are hydrated (it will be a little thick at this point.)

• Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk until homogeneous, then whisk vigorously for 2 -3 minutes or so, until the mixture has lightened by a shade or two and increased in volume.

• Swap the whisk for a spatula and stir in the dry ingredients until fully combined.

• Spread blondie batter evenly into the prepared dish with the back of a spoon. 

• Drizzle about half (1 cup) of the still-warm caramel over the surface of your blondies. You want to leave a few peeks of the blondies underneath, not fully cover the top – don’t worry if it looks a little messy, that’s the point!

• Using a toothpick or butter knife, swirl the apple cider caramel into the surface of the blondies until some caramel has combined with the batter, but there are still gorgeous pools of caramel left. 

• Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until the blondies have puffed and then settled, the top is golden brown, and the pools of caramel are bubbling away. 

• Cool for at least an hour before digging in – for a chewier blondie, store these wrapped in the fridge for up to 7 days. Otherwise, store at room temp well wrapped for 2 - 3 days.