Blondies

When it comes to brownies, I prefer blondies.

When it comes to boys, I prefer...well....really honest ones that claim my new blog layout reminds them of "a high schooler's MySpace page."

He tries so hard to get rid of me :-)

This weekend, my professor recommended we take a break from Organic Chemistry and relax. "Relax" for me means baking. Ok, it actually means sneaking spoonfuls of brownie batter into my mouth and force-feeding Brian the batter that actually gets cooked. 

Once I examined the contents of the fridge and pantry, I realized I had all the ingredients on hand to make a batch of blondies.

Here are the ingredients:

Here is the remaining batter that I didn't devour:

 And here are those chewy blondies:

The recipe I used was taken from Eat, Live, Run, but I made a few adjustments. Since Brian and I love toffee, I added more Heath bar bits and fewer nuts. I also used pecans instead of walnuts, because that's what I had on hand.

Also, the dark brown sugar that we had in the pantry was more like a dark brown brick. After an unsuccessful attempt at breaking up the sugar brick, I used light brown sugar instead.

Overall, the blondies were delicious. I actually preferred them later that night, after they set a few hours.

Heath Bar Blondies

makes 12-16

1 stick butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup heath bar crumbles

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter an 8-inch square pan.

Brown your butter by melting it over medium heat on the stove until it becomes a golden caramel color (see here for more tips). Be careful not to burn the butter—you only want to brown it. This will take several minutes and it’s easiest to keep swirling the pan with your hand while it browns.

Pour the browned butter into the bowl of a kitchen aid and add the brown sugar. Beat for about four minutes, until creamy. Add the egg and beat again. Then, add the flour, salt and vanilla extract (or seeds). Beat until combined.

Fold in the heath bar bits and chopped walnuts. Spread out mixture in your buttered pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Happy Baking!