Blondies Are More Fun

I have nothing against the brownie, but it's just not my dream sweet treat to bake. Maybe I'm biased, having been a blond my whole life?

The blondie takes all of the best properties of the brownie and chocolate chip cookie and melds them together into a yummy bar treat. (Note that the recipe is different than regular cookie dough — the primary ingredient is brown sugar, which makes them deliciously chewy. Oh man.)

I was looking for something quick, transportable, and delicious (of course) to bring into work, so I started with a blondie recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. I modified the recipe slightly and also doubled it (as written below). And let me just add my two cents  about the walnuts: I'm not necessarily a put-nuts-in-baked-goods kind of gal, but they go really nicely with the chocolate and brown sugar. It works.

Delicious Blondie Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use softened butter to grease the pan. I also lined the pan with a piece of parchment. This step isn't necessary, but it makes it easier to cut since you don't have the sides of your pan with which to contend.
• Sift the flour. Then add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to it and sift again. Add the nuts and chocolate chips into the dry mixture, mix well, and set aside.
• Melt the butter. Add the brown sugar to the melted butter and mix well. Let mixture cool slightly if still warm.
• Add the eggs (beaten) and vanilla to the butter mixture. Blend well. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, just mixing until combined.
• Using a spatula, spread batter in a 9x13x2 pan and bake for 22-27 minutes. Poke the center with a toothpick to test if it's done — it should come out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

This recipe could be a great base for a variety of mix-ins in place of the chocolate chips and walnuts: milk chocolate, butterscotch, white chocolate, toffee...whatever you like!

Now, here's where I'm going to get a little tangential — feel free to jump ship now! As I was making these and stacking them in the pastry box to bring to work, I had a flashback of Grandma Mitt's brownies, which she made from scratch for many family gatherings. She always presented them on a nice plate with the bite-sized squares stacked in a pyramid. This isn't something that I ever appreciated as a child, but it's pretty special when I picture her taking the time to create a perfect, chocolaty pyramid of brownies. I tried making my own little pyramid in her honor — it's not easy!