Sunday, February 10, 2008

Make Mine Blonde

I have been in the mood to bake something, yet strangely enough I did not really want to eat whatever it was that I would be baking, I just wanted to taste it. I had some butter softened on the counter that I needed to do something with. So I turned to the Baking Illustrated cookbook that I received for Christmas and found the perfect recipe for brownies. Of course I did not have enough chocolate for that recipe so I turned the page and decided to try making blondies instead.

I used 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of butterscotch chips because that just so happened to be what was in my cabinet. This was my first time making blondies and I am pretty pleased with the results. If only I had some vanilla ice cream to make them a la mode.


Blondies
(Source: Baking Illustrated)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons ( 1 1/2 sticks), unsalted butter melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fold two 16 inch pieces of foil or parchment paper lengthwise so that one measures 13 inches wide, and the other measures 9 inches wide. Fit one sheet in the bottom of the greased pan, pushing it into the corners and up the sides (overhang with help with removal of baked bars). Fit the second sheet in the pan in the same manner, perpendcular to the first sheet. Spray the sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in semisweet and white chocolate chips and nuts and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.
4. Bake until top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars and serve.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those looks soooooooooo good, Amber! I don't like chocolate so much so these are just PERFECT! I've been looking to get the Baking Illustrated. Guess I should!

Jessica said...

I love blondies (and not just because I am one ;)) And you HAVE to buy some ice cream, they are fantastic ala mode.

Anonymous said...

These look great! I also have never made blondies before and have them on my list of things to try.

That Girl said...

My blondies never come out right. I'm so jealous ;-)

Deborah said...

I love blondies, and these sound great!

Emily said...

MMM. Blondies.
A la mode sounds fine to me.

Gillian said...

ooh I love blondies with butterscotch chips :) So good!

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to tell you that I made your recipe yesterday. I only used butterscotch because I gave up chocolate for Lent... They were delicious. I can't wait to try them with chocolate and different variations like maybe adding some cream cheese. Thanks for sharing.

Jaime said...

i love blondies! they are so versatile...

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

I've only ever had these in resturants, but yours look delicious.