These are delightfully chewy, sweet squares of goodness. Super simple to make and super delicious to eat!
Recipe adapted from: Husbands That Cook
Ingredients - 20cm (8 inch) square baking tin
125g butter
200g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg
75g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
3. Add the brown sugar and stir; cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for a minute. Then remove the saucepan from the heat, stir the vanilla in, and allow the mixture to cool down for about 10 minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg to break up the yolk then whisk a spoonful of the brown sugar mixture in; then add the rest of the brown sugar mixture and stir until combined.
5. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir gently until combined.
6. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking paper and pour the batter in.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges look slightly browned and crispy.
8. While still warm, cut into squares. When they cool down more, the chewiness gets much more intense!
Enjoy!
 |
| Blondie Jenga! |
While I do love (and always will love) brownies, I've been enjoying blondies more and more. There's something about the fact that it's akin to a cookie, but with heaps more bits stacked into it, that appeals to me. Plus, the batter tastes like cookie dough, so that's a win!
These particular blondies are delicious, and the addition of browned butter takes them to another level. I have used browned butter before in these cookies, but I felt that the taste was lost, and I was afraid that the same thing would happen with these blondies; but it was not so! I could definitely taste the nuttiness of the browned butter in the end product, and coupled with white chocolate chips and pecans, I was in blondie heaven. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Recipe adapted from: Bake or Break
Ingredients - 21 x 31 cm (8 x 12 inch) brownie tin
310g butter
370g brown sugar
125g white sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
350g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, chopped roughly
1 cup white chocolate chips
Method
1. Begin by browning the butter. In a saucepan, cook the butter over a medium heat until brown specks form underneath the foam. It will smell absolutely amazing !
2. Transfer the butter into a bowl and leave it to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F).
4. Stir the brown and white sugar into the cooled butter.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until light and fluffy.
6. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
7. In a few portions, add the flour, baking powder and salt, mixing in between.
8. Finally, mix the chopped pecans and white chocolate into the batter.
9. Pour the batter into a brownie tin lined with baking paper, and bake for about 35 minutes or until the blondies are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let the blondies cool, then cut them into slices of your choosing and enjoy!
These are the best blondies that I've ever tasted. They taste a lot like these choc chip cookies due to their brown sugar base, but they're chewy from the coconut, crunchy and nutty from the macadamias, and the white chocolate adds a bit more sweetness.
Plus, this recipe can be done completely by hand - no intense beating required!
Recipe adapted from: Brown Eyed Baker
Ingredients (20 cm (8 inch) square cake tin)
115g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
95g butter
135g brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla essence/extract
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
85g white chocolate or white chocolate chips
Method
1. Toast your coconut - either under the grill setting of the oven, or in a frypan - until golden brown.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F).
3. Chop your chocolate and macadamia nuts into large chunks.
4. Melt the butter in a large bowl.
5. Whisk the brown sugar into the butter until combined.
6. Add the egg and vanilla, whisk until combined.
7. Fold the flour, baking powder and salt into the batter with a spatula until just combined.
8. Stir the coconut, white chocolate and macadamias into the batter.
9. Working quickly, pour the batter into a 20cm x 20cm square pan lined with baking paper.
My batter turned very thick after I added the coconut so I had to spread it out to the corners.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top looks cracked and golden brown.
11. Allow to cool in the pan for a bit and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Then, go ahead and chop it up into whatever sizes you choose!
Blondies. Chewy, sweet, chock full of chunks-blondies. Delicious!
Recipe Adapted From: The Brown Eyed Baker
Ingredients (21 x 31 cm (8 x 12 inch) brownie tin)
310g flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter/margarine)
225g butter/margarine
275g brown sugar
125g white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips, or 6 oz chopped chocolate
1 cup butterscotch chips (I didn't have these, so I used chopped white chocolate instead)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (not desiccated)
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (325 F)
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt. This is optional. I'm usually too lazy to do this.
3. Beat the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the eggs one by one, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
5. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
6. Chop up the walnuts and chocolate if you're not using choc chips.
7. Add the chocolate, butterscotch chips, nuts and coconut. Mix until combined.
8. Pour the mixture into a brownie tin lined with baking paper.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. The top should be a nice golden colour.
10. Let cool and cut into squares or bars.
There are many unspoken taboos in my household. Nutella is one of them.
Unfortunately, I love Nutella. I've got a whole pile of recipes that use the delicious hazelnut-chocolate spread stashed away, begging to be baked, but I have been unable to answer their pleas.
UNTIL NOW. Yesterday, the 5th of February 2011, I celebrated World Nutella Day. (Seriously, who comes up with these days of celebration? Whoever they are, they're awesome. I praise you for bringing Nutella to my life.)
Mum was browsing through Foodgawker, came across a promising recipe and learnt of World Nutella Day. When she told me about it, I asked when it was.
"The 5th of Feb," she said. I looked at my diary. OMG IT'S TODAY. Abandoning my plan to watch The Parent Trap on TV, I rushed to the supermarket to buy Nutella with Mum's blessing.
Here's what I made: chewy hazelnut chocolate blondies. Nutella Blondies for short. With some suggestions from Mum, I made my first major adjustments to a recipe and I am pleased to say that these blondies came out amazingly. Chewy, dense, hazelnutty, chocolatey, slightly crunchy and (most importantly) covered in Nutella. Oh yes.
Recipe Adapted From: Cooking Canuck
Ingredients (21 x 31 cm (8 x 12 inch) brownie tin)
105g flour
100g hazelnut meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter or salted margarine)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (it shouldn't matter if you don't add this)
150g butter/margarine
100g Nutella
170g brown sugar
230g white sugar
2 eggs
3 cups rolled oats
60g hazelnuts
80g chocolate chips
For the topping:
Lots of Nutella. I didn't weigh it, I just piled it on and spread it. Yeah, I'm so precise, I know.
60g hazelnuts
60g choc chips
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Line a 21 x 31 cm (8 x 12 inch) baking tin with baking paper.
2. Whisk together flour, hazelnut meal, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar and Nutella until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Add the flour mixture gradually, in about 3 lots, mixing between additions.
6. Roughly chop the hazelnuts.
7. Mix in the rolled oats, chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts into the batter.
8. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and flatten with a spatula or spoon.
9. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes. The top of the blondies should be golden brown, but the middle shouldn't be dry. You want to keep the blondies moist and chewy.
10. Let cool in the pan then lift the blondies out to cool completely.
11. Now you need to prepare the topping. Using a food processor, process the chocolate chips (60g) until there are some in chunks and some completely grated 'dust'. Add the hazelnuts and process until the hazelnuts are in rough chunks. Don't process for too long!
12. Spread Nutella onto the top of the blondies using a knife. The thickness of the topping is up to you!
13. Sprinkle the ground hazelnuts and chocolate onto the top of the Nutella and press down lightly so they stick. Make sure all the Nutella is covered.
I mainly devised this topping so that the blondies wouldn't stick to each other when I put them into the box. It worked. Genius plan!
14. Chop the big blondie bar into squares or rectangles or whatever shape you want, really. I chopped them into large squares but Mum sneakily made them into smaller rectangles when I wasn't looking.
15. Eat.
Happy Nutella Day!
