Baking| Clementines Butterscotch Brownies … from LA Food Times {Culinary SOS}
“Food is the most primitive form of comfort.”
Sheila Graham
I read Arans post the other day as to how she wanted to drop everything she was doing and get back home to make lunch. I had an almost similar moment the other morning, a moment where I raced back from the bus stop after dropping the lad and switched on the oven. There was nothing more that I wanted to do than bake Clementines Butterscotch Brownies!
I love a good productive morning, though these days they are few and far between. Most of them are pretty frustrating as laid out plans fall to nought like the day when the preteen woke up, showered to go to school, then looked pale and green. Fever!! It was back to bed for him; took care of the rest of my day … 
Then late the same night I was reading the LA Times Food newsletter which always makes me hungry. I love the Culinary SOS recipes and spent too much time lost in the pages. What caught my eye was the Carpe Diem’s Mexican chocolate pot de crème but I didn’t have that many eggs in the larder for 6 egg yolks.
One thing led to another, and I landed up at these Clementine’s butterscotch brownies. I knew instantly what I would be doing the next morning after making sure the lad was packed off to school. It was fun doing these, fuss free and simple – like baking on the fast track.
It’s a GREAT recipe. “These are GOOD you know!” exclaimed the ‘not so terrible anymore’ teen. “I like the flavours, the tinge of salt with the sweetness, the caramel like feel to these. Are these brownies?“.
They are called butterscotch brownies, though I was tempted to call them blondies. I got 16 pieces out of the batch, nice, slightly chewy as we like them, with a pleasing depth in taste …YUM! They packed a neat bite. 
Not sure how you toast your walnuts/almonds etc, but I now fast track that too in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. Keep an eye on them, give them a quick stir halfway through, and they are toasted enough. Cool and chop {my Ergo chef knives work like a charm here}. By the time the oven was preheated, the batter was ready … and they baked in next to no time!
Later that day Mr PAB and me went out for a bit, indulged whole heartedly in Indian street food {♥♥♥}, then he obligingly took me to shop at the dusty little gypsies tents {read very dusty}! I go there often {you can see some more of my shopping on this guest post here!
Mr PAB is a man of patience. I walked from one dusty tent to another, from the side of my eyes I could see the car crawl along, no pressure, nothing! NICE! I bought a few battered wooden boxes, rushed home, dusted, washed, sun-dried and oiled them. Used one for the butterscotch brownies above!
The old gypsy who sold them to me was H A P P Y, and rushed to get his ‘hookah‘ when I asked if I could take some pictures {had my P & S in my bag}. Look at him … no pressure of the daily grind, enjoying what he was doing {making metal cheese graters by hand}, and ever so obliging! 
And now over to Clementine’s butterscotch brownies … of which L.A. Food Times says “Tender, rich and temptingly sweet, Clementine’s butterscotch brownies balance that brown-sugary goodness with a nice hint of salt to make this the perfect treat for almost any occasion.” Spot on!!
Recipe: Clementine’s Butterscotch Brownies
Summary: Tender, rich and temptingly sweet, Clementine’s butterscotch brownies balance that brown-sugary goodness with a nice hint of salt to make this the perfect treat for almost any occasion.
Note: Minimally adapted from Clementine Bakery in Los Angeles
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12 to 16
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp {120gm} plain flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup muscavdo sugar {scant}
- 5 tbsp {60gm} butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup semi dark chocolate chips
Method:
- Heat the oven to 170C.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar & muscavado into the melted butter. {I heated it in the microwave for 1 minute as the weather was cold}
- Stir in the egg, then the vanilla.
- Stir in the dry ingredients, then fold in the nuts & chocolate chips.
- Place the batter in a greased 8-inch square baking pan and bake until set {a toothpick inserted will have moist crumbs}, 25 to 30 minutes. {I lined the base with parchment}.
- Remove from heat and cool slightly before cutting. Serve warm, or cool. Store in an airtight box.
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
35 Comments
chinmayie @ love food eat
Love your grew prop! Looks so rustic and classy…
I am tempted to try these without the eggs… you think it’s worth trying to make them with flaxseed meal at all?? Looks so yum!
Rosa
A great flavor! They are irresistible.
Cheers,
Rosa
Daisy@Nevertoosweet
OMG amazing photos 🙂 and even better clementines butterscotch brownies ~ these look so yummy! I haven’t seen clementines in Australia so I’d love to try these! Thanks for sharing!!!
Farwin @ Loveandotherspices
Love your prop collection,Deeba ! Earthy and rustic. And the brownies look awesome too !
Manasi
Love all your props. Of course, the way you take pics is also as important. You make it look SO good!
Love the brownies, just one question, can I use regular white sugar instead of muscavdo? same proportion, is yes?
Deeba @ PAB
I think you could Manasi, or maybe just use all demerera sugar {light brown}. I think they get their character and taste from brown sugar.
Judy
Totally making these my friend!!!
Deeba @ PAB
Judyyyyyyyyyy…so good to see you. Hope the girls are doing good! Big hugs my friend!
Nidhi
These look so great and super quick! I just have a small question though, does this bake in a 8 inch square pan, will that not be too large for this amount of batter? Thanks 🙂
Deeba @ PAB
I went back and rechecked Nidhi. I did use an 8″ X 8″ square loose bottom tin. The batter {almost dough like} was about an inch high and rose a little too. You could try a 7″ if you like.
Helene
Love the pictures and props. Always great to see what you are baking.
foodwanderings
Aww Deeba these clementines butterscotch brownies are gorgeous. Miss you lady! Hats off I always wonder which photo to post first but you always do such a good job. Love the gypsy’;s photos and street scenes!
Deeba @ PAB
Miss ya too Shulie. Will catch you on Twitter one day … or here maybe? Maybe!!!
simran kamath
awesome!..love the brownies……..am def. going to try these out….thankfully have all the ingrds in my little back of beyond home!……love your shopping!
Deeba @ PAB
LOL Sim…you are sweet. Yes, simple ingredients make life so much simpler!
nags
i love that gypsy shop. what a treasure trove!
anuja
Looks yum. as usual your props totally complement your goodies and of course you are an excellent foodstylist. Can’t wait to bake your brownies.
Ben
I know the feeling. Sometimes you just need to drop anything and start cooking/baking. That’s the best therapy! This brownie recipe sounds delicious!
Deeba @ PAB
Always good to see you amigo… thought of you last month {your Mum actually} when the chrysanthemums were in bloom! xo
lisaiscooking
I love anything butterscotch. These sound just perfect to me–better than brownies! The box you chose is beautiful. I’d love to shop through those dusty tents some day.
sds
Pretty…
rosesandgifts.com
Harini
I will be in Delhi for a day or two in May and I hope to visit at least one such area where I can shop for beauties like this! The milk bottles and the blondies both look great but the box really steals the show! Thanks for that link on pinterest. I saw on fb and I think I will have to delete my profile too. It is such a great way to mark things you want to do and its sad that one has to quite because of a huge flaw in the terms and conditions.:(
Deeba @ PAB
Hi Harini,
Mailed you a minute ago. Would love to see you. Such a pity about Pinterest…I really loved it and almost wept while deleting my boards!
Sarah Galvin (All Our Fingers in the Pie)
These look great. But I love all your pictures. You are a wonderful photographer.
Chris
These butterscotch brownies are gorgeous.
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
I want one! Or maybe two or three… 🙂
Cheziannhe
This makes me really hungry and I think I am already craving for it now…The butterscotch brownies are looking very delicious and yummy…
cookingrookie
The brownies look wonderful. I just discovered a big gap in my culinary education – I suspect I never tried butterscotch anything… Have to try this recipe to make up for that 🙂
Jeanne @ CookSister!
Say whaaaaat – clementine and butterscotch?? What an inspired combination! Love the account of the shopping expedition, as well as the stunning pics (and I LOVE alyssum flowers!). Stunning as always, lovely lady!
Minard
Baking is really my weakness and I have never learned about it…I hope I can try this by weekend…
ritu
Brownies without oodles of butter????WOW!!Couldnt ask for a better recipe!
Really miss these gypsy kind of shops in this part of the country!!You do get some classic pieces at these little shops!
ritu
Brownies without oodles of butter??? WOW!!Couldnt ask for a better recipe!
Really miss these gypsy shops in this part of the country!You do find some classic pieces here!!
ritu
Brownies without oodles of butter??WOW!!!!! Couldnt have asked for a better recipe Deeba!
Really miss these gypsy shops in this part of the country!You do find some real classic pieces at these shops!!
Jill Colonna
Deeba, haven’t popped in for a while and realise what I’ve been missing. Absolutely love how you came up with these brownies, your stunning photos and wow, the tent with all of the battered boxes. Just feel I’ve been transported to your world and back!
bwl
superb…
bangalorewithlove.com