Baking Illustrated: Blondies

My goal of October was to send out a little something, something to my boyfriend. We are going a long time before seeing each other. Work is keeping him extra busy these days. Thankfully Thanksgiving is in about 40 days, but that is still 40 days. I miss my man! Work isn’t cake for him and I thought a little package with brownies and pictures would be fun to put together. I couldn’t just send brownies, so I added a batch of blondies to his package as well.

I love blondies. I love them because they taste just like a chocolate chip cookie except they are in bar form, super chewy, moist and huge! For my birthday one of the cookbooks my boyfriend got me was Baking Illustrated. I knew picking blondies from this book would not disappoint because a lot of research and baking went into all the recipes for this book. In the end these were one of my favorite blondies because they are everything a blondie should be. The blondie was moist, salty, buttery and sweet.

I ended up having to make 2 batches of blondies. The first batch came out too thin. I thought my baking powder expired, nope. Then I thought every time I make something in my glass Pyrex 13x9 pan, everything comes out flat! I finally brought a normal 13x9 bar pan meant for cakes and brownies. The second batch came out the way a blondie should. I’ve learned it is very important to always use the right baking materials. Another important factor is when a recipe gives you weights for flour, sugar, butter etc.. USE THEM! I did that for the second batch, and it made such a difference. They were light and cakey, unlike the first batch that was flat and dense.

Blondies batch #1

   

Blondies batch #2

Blondies By Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (my chip chunks came from Wholefoods)

1 cup of pecans, toasted and chopped coarse (I left these out for nut allergies)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with two pieces of foil. Coat the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray. This will allow for easy removal once they have cooled.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk in the melted butter and brown sugar together in a medium bowl until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in the semisweet and white chocolate chips and nuts and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake until the top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil handles and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2 by 2-inch bars and serve.

Click HERE to find the recipe online.

Here are other blondie recipes I can’t wait to try:

Warm Chocolate-Chunk Blondie Bars by King Arthur

Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Blondies by Livelaugheat

Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts by Martha Stewart

Enjoy,

Fallon