1. Lightly spray an 8″x8″ pan with cooking spray, then cut a piece of parchment to line the bottom and sides of one side. Spray over the top of this piece of parchment, then cut another one to go across the remaining 2 sides of the pan.

Make the caramel:

• Combine the sugar, water, honey, and salt in a small bowl just to moisten the sugar evenly.
• Pour the sugar into a heavy bottom saucepan. Turn the heat on medium.
• Whisk the heavy cream and the sour cream together, then place this and the butter near the stove.
• Cook the sugar until you start seeing color around the edges of the pan.
• If you notice that the color seems to be in one spot of the pan but not the rest, gently swirl the sugar in the pan. You may also turn the pan around 180 degrees on the burner to even out the heat.
• Do not stir with a spoon or whisk at this point as you can create sugar crystals and threads you will not be able to incorporate back into the caramel.
• Do not leave the stove. Once you start seeing color watch carefully. As the sugar begins to color, you’ll notice the bubbles start to slow down considerably.
• Caramel can go from pale amber to burnt in a few seconds. Start looking for more deep amber color form across the pan. Right at the end of cooking, you should smell just a hint of burnt sugar and you may see a puff of smoky steam. Once you see this, count to 5 and turn off the heat.
• Have a long whisk handy, then pour in the cream all at once. The caramel will bubble up furiously, so stay back from the steam and whisk furiously until it’s all incorporated.
• Carefully drop in the butter, then whisk to incorporate it.
• Pour the caramel into a glass measuring cup to cool while you make the blondies.

Make the blondies

• Pop the chocolate peanut clusters in a ziploc and whack a few times with a rolling pin to break up the candy into about 1/2″ chunks.
• Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).
• Melt the butter over low heat in a small pan until the foam starts to subside and there are brown flecks in the bottom of the pan. On low heat, this will take about 10 minutes.
• While the butter is browning, fill the bottom of a double boiler with about 1″ of water, then bring it to a boil.
• Use a whisk to mix the sugars, baking powder, salt, whole egg and the egg yolk in the top of a double boiler.
• Lower the water to simmer, then set the top pot over the water, stirring constantly for about 4 minutes. In this time, the mixture will get thinner, paler, and all of the sugar will dissolve.
• Once the butter has browned, set it in a bowl to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg/sugar mix into the butter. If it splits, keep whisking. As it cools, it will come back together.
• Allow the butter mix to cool until it’s thick and no longer warm to the touch. It will be noticeably thicker and glossy.
• Fold in the flour and all but a few handfuls of the crushed chocolate into the batter. Stop when you no longer see flour.
• Smooth the batter in the prepared pan.
• Pour about 1/2 cup of the caramel into a small piping bag or a ziploc. Cut off the tip about 1/2″ from the end, then pipe lines of caramel across the top in a crosshatch pattern.
• Top the caramel with the rest of the chocolate.
• Bake the blondies for 20-22 minutes until the edges are browning and the middle is just barely no longer jiggly.
• Cool the blondies completely before cutting.
• Blondies can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. You can also freeze them in an airtight ziploc for up to 3 months.