Blondies

AKA - A little piece of heaven on earth. I remember when I first made these, it was in bulk for my job as a prep cook. We had blondies show up on the menu, no recipe included, and my boss asked me if I could come up with something or if he needed to find a mix. A mix! Insulting. So scouring my sources, I came across the same basic formula with only a few variations. And they were all easy and fast, huge pluses. If I spent one more second baking then my boss thought I should take - boy would I hear about it. Never mind the raves that would pour in once they sampled my goodies. I remember my first bite of these wonderful bars, I practically melted into a puddle. Moist, chewy, like a cookie but so different. Definitely faster - melted butter skips the softening, and there's no scooping and freezing and multiple batches to go through the oven. I went with a combo of chocolate chips, walnuts, and pecans and the flavors just melded together beautifully. These probably rival brownies for my favorite bar, but then again I've yet to find a brownie recipe that I truly love. Enjoy.


Blondies
Adapted from Whipped


4 oz all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 oz brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 oz chopped walnuts
1 oz chopped pecans


(I usually double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan, but here's the original batch for an 8x8 pan)


Heat oven to 350. Melt butter and add to mixer bowl. Add brown sugar and mix until well combined. 

Butter and sugar. Sin in a bowl.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg and vanilla together. With mixer on low, add egg to sugar mixture, let run until completely incorporated.

Whee, drizzle drizzle drizzle. I'm getting better at these action shots.

Scrape sides of bowl. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate dish. Add to mixer and stir just to combine. 

Like most batters, go in stages with the flour. Tap in a little.

Then oops, a little more. 

All right, looks good. Just BARELY mixed, got it? You still have chunks to go. 

Throw in the nuts and then the chocolate chips, let it mix for a minute or two to let the chunks get all the way through the batter. It will be very very dense. Scrape out into a pan lubed with some non-stick spray, and spread evenly. 

It is possible! It's sticky and loaded with stuff, but it will spread! Mmmmm look at all those chunks. 

Bake for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean or almost clean. Overbake and your blondies will be very dry. Let cool, then cut and enjoy! 

Golden brown and delicious. Still moist and chewy in the middle.