Once I got it into my head that I wanted to make apple butter blondies, there was no stopping me. What can I say? I'm really stubborn. It's both a blessing and a curse.

Anyway, this weekend I went through an entire box of brown sugar, a pound and a half of butter, a dozen eggs, and the better part of a jar of apple butter in my quest. The first batch was too soft (it ended up being a delicious apple cake, but that's not what I wanted), the second batch wasn't apple-y enough and tasted way too healthy, the third batch was delicious and buttery, but just a little bit too greasy. The fourth batch? Perfection.