Tag Archives: blondies

Magic Blondies

Chocolate Chip-Pecan Brown Butter Blondies

Father’s Day is this Sunday, and I’ve been thinking all day about what I would say about my dad. I mean, I’ve already said a lot–I wrote about him in my first blog post. But he’s such a great guy, I had to give him another.

My dad is the kind of guy who taught his three daughters how to play golf, throw a baseball, and shoot hoops. But he also did the Father-Kid number at my dance recitals for seven years straight (and once in tights).

He works really hard and is always trying to better himself–intellectually, physically, in his chosen field, in relationships, you name it. His tagline is “Always go forward.” And he means it. Thank goodness that’s the line he uses most frequently–I don’t know how I would have worked “See that? *points to glass* That’s glass,” into this post.

While my dad has had some success in his life, he is also one of the humblest people I’ve ever met. You can congratulate him on something he’s achieved and, after he thanks you, he’ll immediately turn the conversation to you and what you are achieving. This is something I try to emulate in every interaction I have.

I could go on and on about him, but let me just say this: my dad is a kind, sweet, compassionate, generous person. He has ambition coming out his ears. He loves my mom, his daughters, his friends, and his dog fiercely. If I become half the person he is, I will consider myself the luckiest girl on earth.

My dad loves chocolate, especially brownies, and he always tops them with pecans that get super toasty while they bake. I’ve already made a pecan-topped brownie recipe on here though, so today, we’re going with blondies. But not just any blondies: Chocolate Chip-Pecan Brown Butter Blondies. They’re super chewy, filled with melty chocolate, and extra nutty from the toasted pecans and brown butter.

I know my dad would love these and they’re so simple, he might even try to make them. The recipe only has eight ingredients and doesn’t require a mixer. It can be made start-to-finish in about forty minutes! The hardest part is browning the butter, and that takes almost no effort at all. You could make these blondies with regular melted butter and they would be great, but by taking the time to brown it, you add tons of rich, nutty flavor to the finished product.

Browning butter is mostly letting butter melt over a burner and then letting it continue to cook until it turns a lovely shade of amber. The only real tip I have is not to take your eyes off the pan. Do not step away from the pan, even for a second. Butter can go from brown to burnt in the blink of an eye, and there are few things I hate more than wasting good ingredients.

To brown butter, start by melting a stick of butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Make sure to use a silver or white pan so you can clearly see the butter browning. Once the butter melts, it will start to bubble and crackle. Don’t be alarmed–this is just the water content evaporating. Once the crackling stops, swirl the pan occasionally for 4-7 minutes. You’ll see the milk solids in the butter gradually start to brown. You’ll know your brown butter is ready when you smell the most amazing, deeply nutty, buttery aroma coming from the pan. At this point, turn off the heat and pour the brown butter into a large mixing bowl. That’s it!

Mix your brown butter with brown sugar, an egg, some vanilla, flour, and salt. Fold in some toasted pecans and chocolate chips before spreading the batter into a pan and baking it for 20 minutes. Let the blondies cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.

If I were going to be anywhere near the great state of Texas this weekend, I’d make these Chocolate Chip-Pecan Brown Butter Blondies and serve them warm with ice cream, just how my dad likes his brownies. They’re fantastic at room temperature too, and perfect for packing into a box to deliver to all the great dads in your life.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddio!

Chocolate Chip-Pecan Brown Butter Blondies
makes one 8×8″ pan, about 9-16 blondies

1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter, and dust with flour. Set aside.

Toast the pecans. Place pecans on a dry baking sheet. Place in the oven for 4-5 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool completely.

Brown the butter. Place butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Let butter melt. Butter will bubble and crackle as the water content evaporates. Swirl the pan frequently for 4-7 minutes, keeping an eye on the color. When the solids are turning brown and the butter is nutty and fragrant, remove the pot from the heat and immediately pour the brown butter into a large mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar to the brown butter and stir to combine (it will be thick and look like wet sand). Whisk in egg and vanilla. Use a silicone spatula to stir in flour and salt, scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in chocolate chips and toasted pecans.

Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let blondies cool in the pan on a rack until they reach room temperature. Run a small, thin knife around the edge of the pan to release them (they should be sturdy enough to lift out of the pan in one piece). Slice and serve.

Blondies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Funfetti Cheesecake Platinum Blondies

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How have I made it this far without posting any kind of cheesecake recipe? I love cheesecake. Smooth, rich, creamy, decadent–it’s everything I love in a dessert. And it gets brownie points for being the Golden Girls’ treat of choice. If it’s good enough for Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia, it’s good enough for me.

But for all the things I love about cheesecake, it’s speed of preparation is not one of them. If you’re making a cheesecake today, you’re not going to get to enjoy it until tomorrow. Many recipes require a 24 hour chill after baking and cooling at room temperature. Who really has time for that when it’s not for a special occasion? Definitely not me. But I also refuse to live without cheesecake. My solution? Swirl it into some blondie batter, bake it up, chill, and commence eating in hours, not days.

I also refuse to live without sprinkles, so today I’m bringing you Funfetti Cheesecake Platinum Blondies. The blondie base is similar to the one I used here, and it can take almost anything I throw at it. Most blondie recipes contain brown sugar, but I use all granulated here–the resulting lighter color is what makes these “platinum.” If you’d like to stick to traditional blondies, you may use all light brown sugar here, but I think Funfetti desserts are best with all granulated. It makes the vanilla flavor shine, and the lighter color means the rainbow sprinkles really pop!

Let’s get to the most important part: the cheesecake. It’s so good here. The creamy, tangy cheesecake is the perfect counter to the sweet, chewy, sugar cookie-like blondie base. The mixture is super simple to make, too. Beat a brick of full-fat cream cheese with an egg yolk and a teaspoon of vanilla. When it’s fluffy, add in two tablespoons of sugar. If you taste this by itself, it won’t seem sweet enough, but trust me–the tanginess will be divine when baked into the sweet blondie batter.

Once you’ve made the batter and the cheesecake mixture, it’s time to assemble. Set aside 2/3 cup of the blondie batter, and spread the rest into the bottom of a 9×9″ pan. Drop the cheesecake mixture and reserved batter by the spoonful over the top of the batter in the pan. Use a knife to swirl it all together. I swirled mine a lot (some might say too much). If you want more pronounced swirls, just go back and forth with the knife a few times. Tap the pan on the counter to make sure everything is evenly distributed before baking at 350F for 25-30 minutes. I tented mine with foil after ten minutes to keep everything from browning too quickly.

Once the blondies just barely (and I do mean barely) jiggle in the center when the pan is jostled, they’re done. Let them cool on a rack for an hour before chilling for three hours. Yes, three hours seems like eternity, but it’s nothing compared to the 24 hours you’d wait for a traditional cheesecake! Once everything is good and cold, slice it into bars and serve.

The Funfetti blondie base and cheesecake are a match made in dessert heaven! These bars are sweet, chewy, dense, creamy, tangy, and full of vanilla flavor. Oh, and look how colorful they are! I mean, who can resist a dessert studded with sprinkles and filled with cheesecake? Not many people I know, that’s for sure.

Do you love sprinkles as much as I do? Check out these Funfetti Sandwich Cookies and Funfetti Cookie Dough Truffles!

Funfetti Cheesecake Platinum Blondies
makes one 9×9″ pan,* about 12-16 bars

Cheesecake:
8 ounces brick-style full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Blondies:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon imitation butter extract (optional)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmies)*

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch square pan and line with parchment, leaving overhang for bar-removal. Set aside.

Make the cheesecake. In a medium-large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add sugar, and beat to combine. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Set aside.

Make the blondie base. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and imitation butter extract. Whisk in flour and salt. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in jimmies. Set aside 2/3 cup batter.

Spread the remaining blondie batter in prepared pan. Drop in cheesecake mixture and leftover batter by the spoonful. Use a knife to swirl it all together. Bake 25-30 minutes, tenting with foil if anything starts browning too quickly. Blondies are done when the middle jiggles just barely when the pan is jostled. Let pan cool on a rack at room temperature for one hour. Refrigerate pan for three hours, until cold. Slice into squares and serve.

Funfetti Cheesecake Platinum Blondies will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Notes:

1. An 8×8″ square pan may be used here, but it may affect the bake time.
2. Jimmies are the cylindrical sprinkles, and they are ideal for this recipe. Do not use non-pareils (the little ball-shaped sprinkles)–they will bleed their color and give you an unappetizing purplish batter. Have more questions about sprinkles? I go into more detail here.

Carrot Cake Blondies

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Updated 03/21/2021 to add better photos. Carrot Cake Blondies These last six weeks have been absolute insanity. I moved, my mom and little sister visited, I had a pie party, and I worked my tail off. On top of all that, I am sick for the first time in three years (a major perk of working with kids is that you become immune to everything).

But Easter is this weekend. And I love Easter. All the significance of Holy Week. Cute little kids hunting for eggs. The pastels and seersucker. And, of course, the food. I love a fancy Easter brunch, and I looooove carrot cake. Carrot Cake Blondies But I am not feeling 100% and have plenty to do this weekend without cooking for a major holiday, too. While I would love to make a traditional carrot cake, I just don’t see myself finding the time to bake and frost it. But Easter just wouldn’t be Easter without carrot cake.

Enter these Carrot Cake Blondies. They have all the spices and flavors of the classic cake, but don’t take nearly the time and energy. The bar base is a no-mixer-required recipe that can be whipped up as quickly as you can grate carrots! I like mine chock full of pecans and raisins, but if nuts and dried fruit aren’t for you, feel free to leave them out. The blondies are still great without all the “stuff.” Carrot Cake Blondies And then, there’s the frosting. You simply can’t have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting! (That goes when the cake is actually blondies, too.) Here, there’s nearly as much frosting as blondie in every single bite! The recipe makes enough for a very thick layer, but you may use a thinner layer, or leave it off entirely if frosting isn’t your thing.*

*If frosting isn’t your thing, this might not be the right blog for you 😁

Carrot Cake Blondies are the perfect treat for your Easter weekend. They are absolutely every bit as good as classic carrot cake, and half the work, so you’ll have plenty of time to celebrate outside of your kitchen. Plus, it’s a lot easier to hunt for eggs with a blondie in your hand than it is with a slice of cake and a fork!

Happy Easter! Carrot Cake Blondies

Carrot Cake Blondies
makes one 8×8″ pan, 9-12 blondies

Blondies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts, optional
1/2 cup raisins, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces full-fat brick-style cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of Kosher or sea salt

orange food coloring, optional

green food coloring, optional

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter. Line with parchment, leaving some overhang on two sides for ease of removal, and grease again. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and light brown sugar. Whisk in egg yolk, followed by vanilla and shredded carrots. Whisk in dry ingredients just until combined. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in walnuts and raisins. Batter will be thick.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap full pan on counter five times to release air bubbles. Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack. When cool, run a thin knife between the blondies and the edges of the pan, then use parchment overhang to lift them onto a cutting board.

Make the frosting. In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in confectioner’s sugar in two installments. Add vanilla and salt, and beat on high for two full minutes until very fluffy. If you want to pipe carrots, set aside 1/3 cup frosting. Spread remaining frosting on cooled blondies.

Divide reserved frosting into 2 small bowls. Tint one with orange food coloring and the other with green. Pipe carrots (instructional video here), if desired.

Refrigerate frosted blondies for 15 minutes before slicing.

Blondies keep at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for four. Carrot Cake Blondies

Halloween Candy Corn Platinum Blondies

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Confession: I am one of those adults who positively loathes Halloween. This Saturday night, you will not see me at any costume parties or roaming the crowds of the West Village Halloween Parade. And as there are no children in our building, I won’t be handing out any candy either. As a nanny though, I’ve had to learn to feign interest for the sake of some sweet little friends of mine. For the last four years, I’ve helped squeeze tiny people into itchy costumes, stood in line to get professional photos taken to commemorate that year they dressed up as turtles and cried for six hours straight, and even once taken them trick-or-treating…and that’s all before the sugar-induced meltdowns. Needless to say, I’m a little relieved that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year so I can stay home with Henry, who feels the same way. But for all the grimacing I do on those days, I have to remember that I loved Halloween when I was little. I dressed up as two Disney Princesses, Queen Guinevere (in a vintage purple velvet bridesmaid’s dress that once belonged to my Aunt Jerry Beth), and Mother Teresa. Yes, when I was thirteen, I trick-or-treated as a nun. My mother worked at a church, so my little sister and I had to come up with costumes based on what we could find in the acolyte room. My childhood friend, Christina, went as Dolly Parton that year–we were quite the pair.

All that is to say that I love candy. I have no problem going through someone else’s haul to steal all of the Twix bars and Reese’s Cups. I especially dig candy corn and those little mallow creme pumpkins. I’ve scoured the shelves of the Target Halloween aisle four times in four weeks, and have eaten more sugar than I care to admit. And I’ve finally found a way to get even candy corn-haters to enjoy the stuff–baking it into what I call “platinum” blondies. I’ve figured out that it’s the texture of candy corn that grosses out so many people. And it makes sense–it’s chalky, chewy, and overly sweet, gets stuck in your teeth, and tastes nothing like the “real honey” advertised on the bag. By baking it though, it melts and mellows, ceases to be chalky and gets extra chewy. Combine that with a soft and chewy sugar-cookie-meets-brownie bar, some sprinkles (because sprinkles!) and a vanilla glaze, and you’ve got the perfect no-mixer-needed treat for your Halloween celebration.

These platinum blondies are so, so simple. They start with melting butter and combining it with regular granulated sugar. Whereas most blondie recipes use brown sugar and are therefore a golden brown color, these remain a pale yellow–platinum, if you will. Next come two large eggs, plus a yolk. The extra egg yolk is needed to make up for the moisture lost by not using brown sugar. Then comes a hefty amount of vanilla and just a touch of imitation butter extract. Yes, imitation butter extract sounds gnarly, but it gives these bars a Funfetti cake mix flavor without actually having to use cake mix. If you don’t have any, or just aren’t into it, you can leave it out without the final product suffering. Next we fold in the flour and salt, followed by the candy corn and sprinkles. Then we spread the batter in a prepared pan and bake at 350F for half an hour. The cooled blondies are sliced and drizzled with a simple vanilla glaze, then topped with more sprinkles (because more sprinkles!) and candy corn. Yum!

Halloween Candy Corn Platinum Blondies are the perfect dessert for your Halloween celebration this year. Whether you are attending a party, wandering your neighborhood with your children, or ignoring all of it at home with your favorite person and your Netflix account, you’ll love these blondies! Happy Halloween, indeed.

Halloween Candy Corn Platinum Blondies
makes one 9×13″ pan, about 30 blondies

Platinum Blondies:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon imitation butter extract, optional
2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher or sea salt
1 cup candy corn
1/2 cup sprinkles (jimmies, not nonpareils)*

Vanilla Glaze:
5-6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
additional sprinkles, for decorating*
additional candy corn, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13″ pan with aluminum foil, leaving overhand on the short ends of the pan. Grease the aluminum foil. Set prepared pan aside.

Melt butter on the stove or in the microwave. Let cool slightly.

Pour sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add melted butter and whisk until combined. Add in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, incorporating completely after each addition. Whisk in vanilla and optional imitation butter extract.

Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold the all purpose flour and salt into the butter & sugar mixture. Gently fold in the candy corn and sprinkles. Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap full pan on the counter three or four times to remove air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let blondies cool in the pan for thirty minutes, then use the foil overhang to remove them to a rack to cool completely (about an hour). Once they are cool, peel off the foil and cut into 30 pieces.

Place cooling rack over a piece of wax paper to collect drips. Place blondies back on the rack.

In a small bowl, whisk together heavy cream and vanilla. Whisk in confectioner’s sugar and salt until smooth. Using a squeeze bottle or a fork, drizzle glaze over blondies. Decorate with additional sprinkles and candy corn. Let glaze dry for an hour or two, until it is no longer shiny and is a little bit hardened, before packing into an airtight container for storage. These keep well covered at room temperature for up to three days.