Easy Maple Squares

These bars are what happens when a brownie and a blondie meet at a New England maple sugar shack. Dark maple syrup gives the batter a deep, caramelly sweetness, while chocolate chips and chopped walnuts add pockets of richness and crunch in every bite.

The recipe is almost comically simple: beat the eggs, add everything in order, pour into the pan, bake. No creaming butter, no melting chocolate, no waiting for anything to cool. One bowl and a fork is all you need.

The key is pulling them out at exactly 30 minutes. Overbake these and you lose the chewy center that makes them worth making.

Pro Tips

• Use real dark maple syrup, not pancake syrup. The fake stuff is mostly corn syrup and won’t give you any real maple flavor. Grade A Dark or Very Dark is what you want here.
• Don’t overbake. When in doubt, pull them out. They’ll firm up as they cool. A slightly underdone center is better than a dry, crumbly square.
• Let them cool completely before cutting. They’re fragile when warm. Patience here means clean, neat squares instead of a crumbly mess.

Variations

• Maple pecan: Swap the walnuts for chopped pecans and skip the chocolate chips for a purer maple-nut bar.
• White chocolate maple: Replace the semi-sweet chips with white chocolate chips for a sweeter, more buttery combination.