Blondies

Like most wives, I live with a husband who is not a huge fan of chocolate. Sure, he likes chocolate chip cookies, but he doesn't chase after a chocolately brownie like I do. In fact, he kind of shrugs when I make a tray of brownies.

One day while he was surfing the BBC Good Food website, he asked me if I had ever had a blondie. I've had a couple in my life, but they are usually too dry for my taste, and obviously lack enough chocolate. He then bookmarked a blondie recipe, with intentions of making it one day.

Naturally, he never got around to making the blondie, but while I was doing my own internet surfing, I came upon a blondie recipe on Smitten Kitchen. I noticed I had all of the ingredients at home, and could bake the blondies while my husband was away on his run. It would be a little surprise for him when he came back.

I changed the original recipe a bit by reducing the amount of sugar since I planned on using a mix of butterscotch chips and chocolate chips. Butterscotch chips tend to make most recipes a bit cloyingly sweet.  I also used margarine, which did not change a thing, other than the fact that I could avoid adding a pinch of salt to the batter.

A major note with baking in pans. If you are using a glass pan instead of a metal one, reduce the temperature by about 25 degrees.  In this case, I did reduce the temperature as I used a glass pan, but I did increase the time a bit. What resulted was a perfect blondie.  This was very tasty and far more impressive looking and easier to cut than brownies.

Blondies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter or margarine, melted (if unsalted, add a pinch of salt to batter)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butterscotch chips, chocolate chips or nuts (if using nuts, add a bit more brown sugar)

Method:

Step 1: Grease 8 x 8 pan
Step 2: Cream butter and sugar
Step 3: Add egg and vanilla to butter and sugar mix, and blend a bit more
Step 4: Add flour and optional salt, stirring it in
Step 5: Stir in additions and pour into pan
Step 6: Bake for 20-30 minutes. Center should not longer look gooey.
Step 7: Let cool completely before cutting into squares (I was impatient, and stuck it in the freezer for 20 minutes)