I have had a crazy week you guys. I do a lot of recipe development and freelance work outside this super fun space, and I had A LOT of deadlines crashing into each other this week…seriously there were deadlines everywhere. It was a deadline pile-up.
Long story short…I needed a blondie.
Why a blondie? Because sometimes a barely-cooked through gooey chewy chocolate chip cookie is exactly what you want. But you don’t have the energy to be scooping cookie dough and rotating trays and working with batches.
For those times, the blondie is your best friend. These bars do fly under the radar in my kitchen, where brownies reign supreme. But I was following the #foodiebandnames hashtag on Twitter, and my contribution was Blondie! A great band, a great bar, and that was all the inspiration I needed.
The other great thing about these guys is that, unlike the hair colour, they’re super low-maintenance. Everything just gets stirred together. No creaming, no beating, no stress. The only remotely stressful part is browning the butter, which I find oddly mesmerising and relaxing anyway.
And once they’re in the oven and the smell of nutty butter and chocolate and sugar is wafting through your house, all those worries tend to melt away a little bit.
You know what else will melt away? The scoop of ice cream that you put on a microwaved blondie later that night. Great for slobbing out on the couch, but also a great dinner party dessert, in my opinion! I mean, if I come to your house and get a warm blondie sundae? I’m never leaving.
Hey also if you happen to have a spare 30 seconds in between your own mess of deadlines, I would love you forever if you’d sling me a vote in the Saveur Blog Awards! It only takes a minute, and it would mean a lot to me!
Have a kickass weekend, Sugar Hit crew (can I call you that?)! Peace!
xx Sarah.
- 2 sticks (230g) butter
- 2 cups (300g) plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ½ tsp flaky salt
- 1 cup (225g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (110g) caster sugar
- ⅔ cup pecan halves
- 4½ oz (100g) dark chocolate
- First step is to brown the butter. Place the butter into a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cook until it melts, stirring occasionally, and then continue to cook until the butter foams, and turns brown (about 5-8 minutes). Set aside to cool.
- Grease and line a 8inch (20cm) square baking pan and preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Place the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Add the vanilla and salt to the eggs and then whisk them gently to break them up.
- Add in the sugar and cooled brown butter (including any solids at the bottom of the pan), and stir together using a wooden spoon until completely combined.
- Add in about half the pecans and broken up chocolate, and stir them in.
- Press the mixture into the lined pan, and scatter over the remaining nuts and chocolate.
- Bake for 25 minutes, and then remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
- Serve however you want (great with ice cream for dessert!).
Wow these look good!
Could you substitute vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste? These look amazing!
Absolutely! Thanks Grace. :)
Oh the ooey gooey chocolaty-ness is calling to me! These look incredibly delicious!
you’ve smashed it again! How fast can I get this in my face?!?
FoodNerd x
OMG my mouth is watering. I must make these!
It’s been “that kind of morning”…please pass me the pan!
Of course! Commiserations, lovely lady.
Voted! Love your blog… Love these blondies!
Thanks MB!
Doesn’t it seem like everything collides at one time???! I love the process as browning butter as well, it’s so fascinating how one little step can totally change the taste of something!
It REALLY DOES seem that way! But at least we can relax with some butter-browning.
Oh my gosh! As I read the ingredient list I kept saying, uh-huh, uh-huh, Yes, yes…these sound ah-ma-zing!!!!
I have somehow never made a blondie before…and these look like perfection!
Any recipe that requires two sticks of butter is a winner in my book. This looks delicious, perfect combo of salty and sweet. Bookmarking this for later :) Stunning photography too, as always.
I’m sorry-what I a “castor sugar”?
Hi Marianne, you might know it as superfine sugar?
These blondies are completely perfect. I’m drooling over them right nowww
I always head for a blondie when I am too lazy for cookie scooping. Works like a charm every time. These look amazing!!
THESE BLONDIESSSS. Imma cry. They are so legit pretty and gooey and gaah. Chocolate. Get in my face. Pinning!
Amen! All my deadlines are crashing into each other right now too. I could definitely use a blondie:)
Can the flour be changed to almond meal or coconut flour? Or a mixture of the two?
Would like to change the sugar contents as am diabetic what would you suggest
Oh my crap.
Blondies are my weakness! These have my mouth watering. I’ve had tons of deadlines lately too, so I need to carve out some time to make these.
I cannot resist any longer… it’s been 9 days since i first laid my eyes on these… i have to make them NOW!!!
These are amazing! Found the recipe on Pinterest and it’s by far one of my most successful pins yet! Thankyou!
Yaaay! So glad you found me~