Blondies
Source of Recipe
Adapted from How to Cook Everything
Recipe Link: http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/blondies-for-a-blondie/ I�m back! But not really, as I got home an hour ago, whipped up a batch of the only blondie recipe you�ll ever need for our favorite blondie�s umpteenth 25th birthday and now I have about 45 minutes to find something in my closet that camouflages my sling because ugh, it�s such an eyesore. (On the flipside, when I don�t wear it and someone bumps into me I get all outraged like �don�t you know my shoulder is injured?!� Well, no Debbie, they don�t.) Although I am certain the last thing anyone wants to think about today is eating, baking, desserts or the next big cooking holiday, this recipe will usher in what I hope will be a month peppered with ideas for gifty kitchen confections. I know a lot of people this time of year make small gifts bags of baked goods, or larger tins for parties, and while I typically don�t, this gives me a chance, too, to try out a lot of bookmarked recipes while also never showing up at a party empty-handed. Also, I finally have an excuse to buy a candy thermometer. Of course, this recipe is nothing new. I�ve been making it for nearly two years now because it�s simple the tastiest and easiest � one bowl! � baked goods to whip up for a party. It�s denser than chocolate chip cookies, more complex than brownies and in the classic Minimalist style, you�ve can customize it anywhere from a cranberry almond coconut bar to the gunky artery-cloggers I�m best known for. I typically load up on whatever chocolate I have around � tonight it was milk, white and bittersweet � finely chop some walnuts or pecans, use dark brown sugar, European butter and in something you will probably sense is a theme with me, add a splash of bourbon to boot. Gild the lily? Oh, not me. Never. Finally, I double the recipe, baking it in a 9�13 pan (though really, just because I don�t have an 8�8 � yet) and cut the pieces really small, almost like cubes so we can rest assured that we�re not overdoing it. Oh no, not us. Never.
Blondies
Adapted from How to Cook Everything
8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter, melted
1 cup (218 grams or 7 3/4 ounces for light; 238 grams or 8 3/8 ounces for dark) brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup (4 3/8 ounces or 125 grams) all-purpose flour
1. Butter an 8�8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar � beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350�F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times � nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them.
Further additions, use one or a combination of:
* 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
* 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
* 1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
* 1/2 cup mashed bananas
* 1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
* 2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
* Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
* Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting
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