I highly reccomend making the caramel the night before the blondies, so that it has time to fully cool to room temperature.
In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and stir every 1-2 minutes or so until it begins to melt (the sugar will start to clump up before melting).
Once the sugar is completely melted, immediately remove from the heat and stir in the butter until combined (don't be scared if it bubbles a lot).
Add in the heavy cream and salt and mix until fully combined and smooth.
Pour the caramel into a glass jar to cool. Can be stored in the fridge for up to a month!
If you make the caramel the night before, it can sit covered at room temperature overnight so that it's a nice pourable consistency.
Blondies
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until the texture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes, it should look much paler than before).
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold in the dark chocolate chips and pecans.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan).
Scoop half of the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan and press down into a nice even layer (you can wet the tips of your fingers to easily flatten out the dough).
Drizzle about ¼ cup of the cooled caramel sauce over top of the dough and smooth out into an even layer.
Scoop the remaining dough on top of the caramel layer and press down into an even layer. Sprinkle some extra pecans or chocolate chips on top.
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up slightly before baking.
While the blondies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake blondies at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the turtle blondies out of the pan.
Slice into squares and drizzle with extra salted caramel and flaky sea salt!
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Brown the butter: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma. Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly). Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning. Let cool before using. If you don't want to use browned butter you can just use room temperature butter. Note: For every ½ cup (1 stick or 113g), you'll lose about 1 tablespoon (14g) to evaporation while cooking. So you can either add in an extra 1 tablespoon before browning, or if you're browning big batches, just make up the weight difference in your recipe with regular unsalted butter if needed.It's better to undercook the blondies slightly, than overcook them! Blondies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking them. Bake just until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the blondies will take to cook.Be patient and let them cool. Warm blondies fresh out of the oven are delish, I know. But it's best to let them fully cool before digging in. The blondies will be less likely to crumble when you cut them and the center is more likely to be fully cooked while still being perfectly gooey.