(Save Our Cozies!) Recipe: Hannah Swensen's Butterscotch Bonanza Bars

Another Hannah Swensen/Joanne Fluke recipe to share, this time for the Save Our Cozies Readathon. I had posted a picture of these luscious bars about a week ago, promising to share the recipe someday. That time is now! These are so, so easy to make, customizable, and quite delicious. My friends, co-workers, and students are all big fans of this recipe.

Hannah divided the contents of her bowl into three batches. She added the butterscotch chips to Bertie's batch and spread the batter in the bottom of a nine-inch by thirteen-inch pan she'd lined with heavy duty foil. Since she'd tripled the recipe, Hannah mixed semi-sweet chocolate chips into the second batch and white chocolate chips into the third. Personally, she preferred these yummy cookie bars plain. The butterscotch flavor from the ingredients was absolutely delicious all by itself. But several of their customers were crazy about white chocolate chips, and she knew they'd be delighted with the combination of white chocolate and butterscotch. There were also those who wouldn't dream of ordering anything without dark chocolate, and the third batch she'd made was bound to please them.

Butterscotch Bonanza Bars with white chocolate and walnuts

 I've made all three versions, sometimes with pecans, other times with walnuts, and all variations are delicious. I'm particular to the regular butterscotch with walnuts though.

Hannah Swensen's Butterscotch Bonanza Bars
1/2 cup salted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups butterscotch/semi-sweet//white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan. Set it aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat on the stovetop, or put it in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and heat it for 1 minute in the microwave on HIGH.

Add the brown sugar to the mixing bowl with the melted butter and stir it in well. 

Mix in the baking powder and the salt. Make sure they're thoroughly incorporated.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Mix in the beaten eggs.

Add the flour by half-cup increments, stirring in each increment before adding the next.

Stir in the nuts, if you decided to use them.

Stir in the optional chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes.

When the bars are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely.

Use a sharp knife to cut into small pieces (they're quite rich).