Blondies

By Kath Dedon

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To me, Blondies are what you get when Brownies marry Chocolate Chip Cookies. You get a chewy bar, like a brownie, loaded with chocolate chips. It’s a great combination!

On Friday I said I would bring Blondies to a birthday party on Saturday. I realized that I don’t have a go-to Blondie recipe, so I turned to Eat Your Books for suggestions. The Cook’s Illustrated recipe came up high on the list. The Food52 blog shared it. Eat Your Books also said the recipe is in the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook. I know you’re not supposed to try new recipes for entertaining, but I trust Cook’s Illustrated so I decided to go for it.

My, oh, my! I now have a go-to Blondies recipe! These Blondies were incredibly good. The texture was perfect. I loved the crunch of the pecans. Cook’s Illustrated said they tried adding the white chocolate chips on a whim, and using them with the semisweet chips turned out to be the winner. I have to agree.

I would not change a thing about this recipe. It’s very easy and produces fabulous Blondies. Put this one in your back pocket to pull out when you want to take a dessert to a summer barbecue. You’ll be a hero!

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Blondies

(Adapted, barely, from a recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and on the Food52 blog)

(print the recipe)

Makes 36 bars

(I haven’t tried it, but I’m confident that this recipe could be cut in half and baked in an 8-inch square pan if you wanted fewer Blondies.)

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About 1 tablespoon of softened butter to grease the pan

1 cup pecans

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups packed (10 ½ ounces) light brown sugar (Tip: if you have a kitchen scale, measure the brown sugar by weight in a small bowl.)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup (3 ounces) white chocolate chips (For best results, Cook’s Illustrated recommends Guittard Choc-au-Lait or Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Chips. I found Ghirardelli at Safeway and that’s what I used.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Use 2 long sheets of heavy-duty foil to make a sling in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Use one sheet lengthwise and the other across the width of the pan. Gently press the foil into the corners and along the edges, leaving the extra foil to hang over the edges. Use a paper towel to grease the foil with the softened tablespoon of butter.

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4. Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and toast in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, until they’re lightly toasted and aromatic. Watch closely because they can quickly burn. Coarsely chop the pecans and set them aside.

5. Melt the 12 tablespoons of butter and set aside to cool slightly.

6. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

7. Put the light brown sugar in a large bowl. Whisk in the butter until it’s well-combined with the sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

8. Use a spatula to fold the flour mixture into the brown sugar mixture. Do not overmix; fold just until it’s combined.

9. Fold in the pecans and the semisweet and white chocolate chips.

10. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

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11. Bake until the top is shiny and a bit cracked and the surface feels firm, 22 – 25 minutes. (In my oven 24 minutes was perfect.)

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12. Put the pan on a wire rack and cool completely.

13. Use the foil sling to lift the Blondies to a cutting board.

14. Cut into 2 x 1½-inch bars. (I used my pizza cutter to cut the bars and it worked great!)

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