Butterfinger Blondies with Butterfinger Cream Cheese Frosting

Ah, Halloween. The one day each year when children dress up in adorable costumes and go beg for candy for their parents to eat. It’s a magical, magical day.

I’m hoping we get lots of the “good candy” so I can make these blondies again. You know the difference between “good candy” and “bad candy,” right? Good candy = Butterfingers, Snickers, Kit Kats, etc. Bad candy = individually wrapped hard candies, generic chocolates wrapped in foil. Good candy = a cupboard stocked with sweet treats for months. Bad candy = a careful inspection to make sure it’s still fully sealed, and most likely a trip to the trash can just in case.

These blondies are a perfect use for the good candy. I think you could replace the Butterfingers in the recipe with just about any type of candy bar you can think of – Snickers, Kit Kats, Twix, Nestle Crunch...they’d all taste amazing in this application. I’d much rather use the Halloween haul in recipes like this, just so I don’t have it all sitting around for the next few months, begging me to eat it. Recipes like this get rid of a lot of it at once, which is good.

Plus? These blondies are delicious. Truly, amazingly delicious. “I think I’ll eat three of them” delicious. And that’s just the blondies; don’t even get me started on the frosting.

(P.S. These candy bar cookies are another great use for Halloween candy.)

Butterfinger Blondies with Butterfinger Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Cookies and Cups

For the blondies:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped Butterfinger bars (about 16 “fun size” bars)

For the frosting:

1 stick butter at room temperature
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped Butterfinger bars (about 4 “fun size” bars)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For the blondies, cream butter and sugars in mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.

3. On low add the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda) until just combined. Stir in the chopped Butterfingers.

4. Spread in a 9 × 13 baking dish and bake for 25 minutes until center is just set. Remove from oven and cool completely.

5. For the frosting, mix together butter, cream cheese and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add powdered sugar to desired consistency. Stir in Butterfingers and spread frosting over cooled blondies.