Perfect snack for National Blondie Day!
Sunday Snack
It is not often that I want a sweet snack. When hunger hits I am usually looking for olives, potato chips or something similarly salty. Today, however, is National Blondie Day and so, when I felt a little restless pang hit I thought, why not?
First off, a little clarification. A blondie is not a vanilla brownie. It is not a cookie. It is a luscious butterscotch-y morsel that is very easy to whip up when hunger strikes or company comes.
At its simplest, a blondie is a bar confection consisting of butter, brown sugar, flour, egg, vanilla and not much else. Melt the butter, whisk everything together in a bowl, bake and in less than an hour you have a yummy snack to share. My recipe only makes an 8”x8” pan which means I don’t have blondies for days. Since I rarely let things be at their simplest, today I added chopped white chocolate, salted macadamia nuts and a slug of good bourbon to my snack. Pretty tasty I must say.
So, happy blondie day everyone-don’t wait til next year to whip up a batch.
White Chocolate-Macadamia Nut Blondies
Makes 16 small squares or 9 ridiculously big ones
½ cup melted unsalted butter, cooled to room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon good bourbon (I used Michter’s)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped white chocolate
¼ cup chopped salted macadamia nuts
Spray an 8”x8” square baking pan with baking spray and line the pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving a 2” overhang. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Scrape melted butter into a medium bowl and whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the egg until combined.
Add the baking powder, soda, salt and flour and stir well. Fold in the chocolate and nuts. Batter will be stiff.
Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake until set and a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, about 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake.
Let blondies cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then lift paper and blondies out of pan and continue to cool completely. Peel paper or foil from blondies and discard. Cut blondies into 16 pieces. Remember, this is a snack.
