Easy Blondies, Super Bowl, #equinoxmademedoit

Until I met my husband, I could have cared less about football. Well, that’s not true, I went to almost every A&M football game during college, but I was never really “in to it” or knew what was going on.

Football really sparked my interest just a few years ago as the Aggies went on to the SEC, Johnny Manziel become “Johnny Football”, the Aggies starting winning, and I finally got used to nothing but football on TV every Saturday and Sunday in the fall.

The Super Bowl last night marked the end of football season, and I’m honestly a little sad. I’ve come to love having the game on television as background noise while I cook, and I have even come to just ENJOY watching it on the couch! Something I never would have considered doing a few years ago.

Last night my parents invited us over for hotdogs and hamburgers and to watch the Super Bowl. For dessert, my mom made these super easy blondies. What’s great about them is you will more than likely already have all the items you need in your pantry!

In addition to being super easy, these delicious bars are so buttery and moist. The chocolate just melts in your mouth, and the walnuts add a nice crunch. Its like eating a more buttery chocolate chip walnut cookie in a bar form!

This can’t be a good habit, but our three month old LOVES television; football for that matter. Maybe its because during her first few weeks of life, she lay on her daddy’s chest watching the Aggies play. 🙂

Super Bowl 49 (Seahawks vs. Patriots) was no different, as she thoroughly enjoyed the first quarter of the game laying on the floor on her cozy little pink blanket!

Need a good excuse to eat these buttery blondies? It’s called working out, and we’ve already got a personal trainer at Dallas’ Equinox: Aunt Brittany!!! #equinoxmademedoit

Blondie anyone? We’ve got our own Aunt Brittany as a personal trainer to fight off all those calories from the blondies. haha! #equinoxmademedoit

Easy Blondies

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 16

Adapted from: “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies” by Alice Medrich

Ingredients

1 cup (4.5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (6.125 oz) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (2.33 oz) broken or coarsely chopped walnut pieces
1/2 cup (3 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Use a wooden spoon to beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture followed by half of the walnuts. Spread the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts and the chocolate chips evenly over the top.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the nuts look toasted, the top is golden brown, and the edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan on a rack. Lift the ends of the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Use a long sharp knife to cut into squares. May be kept in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.

Notes

UPGRADES:[br]NUTMEG OR CINNAMON BLONDIES: Just before serving, grate a little nutmeg or cinnamon stick over the bars.[br]PEANUT BUTTER BLONDIES: Reduce the amount of brown sugar to 2/3 cup. Add 1/2 cup (3 oz) well-stirred natural peanut butter (chunky or smooth) with the brown sugar. Substitute 1/2 cup (2 oz) roasted salted peanuts for the walnuts.[br]PEANUT BUTTER HAZELNUT BLONDIES: Reduce the amount of brown sugar to 2/3 cup. Add 1/3 cup (3 oz) well-stirred peanut butter (chunky or smooth) with the brown sugar. Substitute toasted skinned hazelnuts for the walnuts. Before baking, sprinkle the top very lightly with tiny pinches of flaky sea salt.

New Oven and Blondies

Santa came early this year with a brand new Wolf oven for my mom. Supposedly the oven was weighing down Santa’s sleigh, so he made an early delivery! LOL. My mom’s previous oven was not old by any means, but it was giving her a lot of grief so she decided to just buy a new one. 🙂

With her old oven (a Thermador), you would have to bake just about everything for 10-15 minutes longer than what the recipe called for. Apparently one of the heating elements was broken. One time we were baking a cobbler and another heating element sent sparks flying. We had to throw the cobbler away for fear we would eat metal or something that was sharp! Another time, the numbers (timer, bake time, clock) wouldn’t show up on the oven….the list goes on.

Instead of calling out the repairman for what seemed like the tenth time in just a matter of years, my parents just ordered a new oven. It’s pretty high-tech and mom is super excited. For one, the inside is cobalt blue. Second, it has a DUAL convection system – a convection system is different from the conventional one because it has a fan and cooks the food much more evenly. There’s also ten cooking modes – bake, broil, etc. (the usuals) plus the ability to proof bread and dehydrate fruit! Mom was also excited about the temperature probe, and the easy to glide oven racks.

A baker’s dream, right? Take a look…

So sleek!

It’s blue inside!

Christening the oven with a batch of blondies. Mmm…mmm good!

With the new oven installed it was time to bake something! Brownies, cookies and bars are some of our favorite things to bake, so mom pulled out Ina Garten’s newest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust, and whipped up a batch of delicious chocolate chunk blondies.

The blondies were absolutely AMAZING! You can guess from the name that a blondie is pretty much a blonde brownie. Instead of cocoa or chocolate, a blondie is based on brown sugar. Many times they include chocolate chips or chunks. These remind me of a super-thick cookie cake! They are so moist, the chocolate chunks are perfect in size & taste, and the walnuts add a nice crunch. By far, these are the BEST blondies I’ve ever eaten!

Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Close up.

Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Ingredients

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate chunks, such as Nestle’s

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 8 x 12 x 12-inch pan (we used a 9 x 13-inch pan).

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well, scraping down the bowl.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and the mixer still on low, slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Fold the walnuts and chocolate chunks in with a rubber spatula.

4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes exactly. Don’t over bake! A toothpick may not come out clean. Cool completely in the pan and cut into bars.

Yield: about 20 blondies

Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa

Nutella-Swirl Blondies

These blondies are sooo good. My mother-in-law, Paula could not keep from eating them. While not a huge chocolate or butterscotch fan (two key ingredients in these Nutella-Swirl Blondies), Paula LOVES these bars! Maybe it’s because she could taste the cream cheese swirled into the Nutella mixture?!?! Haha….she is a sucker when it comes to cream cheese.

My mom and sister made blondies last week after having seen them in All You magazine. None of us have ever heard of All You, but that didn’t matter…when we see something that looks delicious, it doesn’t matter where it comes from!

If you’re looking for an extremely rich bar with just a touch of chocolate, these are for you. The butterscotch chips and brown sugar crust make for an extremely decadent dessert. You really only need one small bar to satisfy your sweet tooth. For those chocolate lovers, these are not “death by chocolate.” Instead, the Nutella provides a subtle dark chocolate flavor that pairs surprisingly well with the butterscotch.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Spread butterscotch mixture into pan.

Drop spoonfuls of Nutella over batter.

Use the tip of a sharp knife to swirl in Nutella.

Bake for 25-30 minutes on a 375 degree F oven. Let cool in pan.

After cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Nutella-Swirl Blondies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup Nutella

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Grease 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line with foil, letting ends of foil hang 3 inches over the 2 long edges. Grease foil.

3. Combine sugar, and butter in a large pan over medium heat. Cooking, stirring often, until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved (mixture will not look combined). Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in 2 whole eggs and vanilla.

4. In a bowl, whisk flour with baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture; mix until smooth. Fold in butterscotch chips. Spread evenly in pan.

5. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese with egg yolk and Nutella until smooth. Drop spoonfuls of Nutella mixture over batter in pan and use the tip of a small knife to swirl it in, making a decorative pattern. Do not scrape bottom of pan.

6. Bake until blondies are just set in the center and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours. Run a sharp knife along edges of pan to loosen, then remove blondies from pan using foil handles. Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.

Yield: 24 blondies

Recipe from: All You

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (1 blondie):

Cranberry Blondes

My mom made these delectable Cranberry Blondes for me over the weekend. I know I say this every time I post something on my blog, but these are amazing! (Of course, if the recipe wasn’t amazing, why would I post it? I’d put it under the “Oopes and Mistakes” section of Dallas Duo).

These bars remind me of a cross between a buttery shortbread and a bar cookie or blondie. My mom said the batter is extremely sticky, much like shortbread, and that she had to use all her arm power to fold in the dried cranberries!

Unlike costly dried cherries, dried cranberries are inexpensive and easy to find. Right now if you shop at Central Market, you can buy their dried cranberries in bulk. Since they are in season, the dried cranberries are in chopped whole, rather than in small pieces like you would get with Ocean Spray Craisins. The whole pieces make these cranberries so juicy, plump, and delicious. They also add a pleasingly tart and zingy flavor to baked goods, especially paired with orange zest, as they are in these bars.

Make these soon…enjoy!

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Fat Witch Brownies” by Patricia Helding, owner of New York’s legendary Fat Witch Bakery.

Cranberry Blondes
Ingredients
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Directions
1. Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with butter. Dust with flour and shake out the excess. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and mix until well combined.
3. Measure the flour and salt and then sift directly into the batter. Mix gently until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the cranberries, granulated sugar, and orange zest with a fork. Add to the batter and mix in by hand with a wooden spoon.
5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan, using your hands to press down lightly and evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only crumbs, not batter on it.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 1 hour. Cut just before serving.

Yield: 12 to 16 bars
“Fat Witch Brownies: Brownies, Blondies, and Bars From New York’s Legendary Fat Witch Bakery” by Patricia Helding