I did not grow up eating blondies so really had little clue what I was getting into when I set out to bake them one lazy afternoon. To say I was impressed would be a slight understatement…where have these been all my life???

I immediately turned to my mother. It’s just too easy to blame a parent, isn’t it? In her defense she never had a great recipe that used chocolate chips so all she was ever left with was a plain ol’ bar – no chocolate or texture from added ingredients. Ok mom, I’ll let this one slide but I do think I was a bit neglected here.

So what are these things? Blondies came from a southern chef who insisted on using only brown sugar in his baking as opposed to white granulated sugar. What this yielded was a chewy, moist, butterscotchy dream – also known as the blondie or the baked good that completes my life.

There are a million things you can do with them. Change up the chocolate chips (use white, or peanut butter). Change up the nuts (use pecans, or walnuts). Add in dried fruit – coconut, stir in some peanut butter. Feeling wild? Throw in a 1/4 cup of bourbon – most blondie recipes call for it! This is from the south people.

Since I’m in a very traditional home I knew if I were to be introducing a new baked item to the repertoire it would need to be as classic as it comes. I want to avoid the face M would make if he took a bite of something that god forbid had coconut or fruit hidden throughout – it’s just not worth it.

So, we went with the standard chocolate chips and a small amount of roasted and salted pecans. The verdict is still out there from M…hopefully he’ll make it home in time before the pan disappears. It’s 50/50.

‘Blondies’
Recipe adapted from ‘How to cook everything’

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8X8 pan.

Mix together one stick of melted unsalted butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. Beat in one room temperature egg. Throw in a tsp of vanilla and a pinch of salt. End the batter by stirring in one cup of flour.

Now mix in your fun stuff. I went with a cup of chocolate chips and a 1/2 cup of roasted pecans. But again, feel free to experiment.

Bake for 22 minutes until the edges just start to set and the inside still looks a bit ooey gooey.

If you were deprived like I was and have never made these, I suggest you get going on this.
Courtney