Blondies, the delicious and pale cousin of the brownie, made an appearance at our monthly book club meeting yesterday, compliments of Miss Mary. They reminded me that I had photographed [and promptly forgotten about] a batch of blondies I made a few months ago, so I thought now would be a good time to share it.


They were originally made with the intention to be sent along with a group of friends going to Cinema Wasteland, a horror film convention in Cleveland, but they never made it out of the state. Not because they were so darn good, as I sometimes would like to think, but because of a miscommunication.


A one-bowl treat, they don't take much work and pretty much anything can be thrown in to them; I like to think them of them as the kitchen sink of the bar world; they're perfect for getting rid of the last chocolate chips/dried cranberries/candies or whatever you have floating around that aren't really enough to do much else with. I used up the remains of white chocolate, butterscotch and bittersweet chocolate chips in the making of these. I think next time I might try pretzels and chocolate chips, though.


Back to the book club, our newest read is Grace Metalious' Peyton Place, a story of intrigue and scandal set in the 1950s that was later turned into a film and a TV show. I've got books on my mind this week, people! After finally having watched Revolutionary Road [how fantastic and heart wrenching was that?!]the other night, and An Education a few nights before, I am so in love with the 60s it's disgusting! I absolutely cannot wait to get copies of them to read and pass on to my friends who haven't read them yet.


Blondies
Adapted from Pink of Perfection
Yields a 9x13 inch pan of brownies, cut however small or large you like

The biggest change I made to the recipe is that I doubled all of the ingredients. I don't know about you, but an 8x8 tray of brownies lasts about two minutes in my house. Otherwise, everything is the same.

2 sticks of softened butter
2 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 each of chocolate chips, nuts, candies, or whatever you decide to mix in

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9x13 baking dish or pan and set aside. [This is a prime opportunity to use butter wrappers that I'm sure are mostly thrown away. Don't! There is enough butter on those to coat your pans with.]

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Pour into a large bowl and whisk in brown sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until incorporated. Add in the salt and flour and stir until smooth, then throw in whatever mix-ins you decide to use.

Spread batter into the buttered pan and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. If you're everyone else, you would let them cool for about 45 minutes, but if you're me, then you dance around the kitchen anxiously and then decide to dive in with a spoon well before you should.

Packed in an airtight container, they should stay good for around 4 days or so. Oh, and enjoy that scorched tongue you get if you choose not to wait.

Love,
Cristina



Brownies before on the Sweet Bee Sting: Peanut Butter Brownies

Labels: blondies, books