Blondies have more fun – blondie bites with candied nuts
I love to bake and often wonder what I like better, cooking or baking. There is no large audience here for baking as it is just the two of us at home. With the blog however, I invite you into my kitchen, virtual as this may be, and now I can bake for you. I spoke to a blogger friend about this and she said she would bake a cake and throw it out. I relate to the sentiment although I haven’t done it that way. I try to unload some of the baked goodies on my friends and neighbours but, you know how it is, you don’t want to push your extras on other people. I also learned to bake in smaller quantities.
So, do blond(ies) have more fun? These little blondie bites are good to put into a cookie jar (it’s not just for cookies anymore) for when the sweet urge arises. They also make a nice addition to a sweet tray that you take to a party or a celebration. What elevates these bites to a more sophisticated level is the caramelized nuts and fleur de sel that are folded into the simple butter-sugar-egg-flour batter. I cut these rich blondies into smaller pieces which are quite enough (who is counting how many pieces you ate?).
Blondies with caramelized nuts
The recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman butterscotch brownies recipe in How to Cook Everything.
Ingredients:
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup caramelized nuts, chopped
1 teaspoon fleur de sel or another coarse beautiful salt
Directions:
Melt butter and place in a bowl. Either whisk or use a mixer to beat until smooth.
Add the sugar and beat/whisk to incorporate.
Add egg and vanilla and continue mixing.
Add the flour and baking powder and mix just until the flour is incorporated and a batter forms.
Mix in the caramelized nuts and fleur de sel by hand.
Butter (or spray) an 8″ square cake pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake in 350F for about 20 minutes or until almost set. Do not over bake.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan.
Cut into desired size squares. to cut into small squares I first cut the blondie into about 9 pieces and then cut each in four.
If you prefer brunettes this one is for you.
6 Comments
these look great! would be perfect for a summer cookout! And totally understandable about throwing away the cake/other goodies.. when you bake so much theres only so much you can do with it!
Hi Mia, thanks for the comment. I try to avoid throwing food away but you know, it happens. I enjoyed reading your blog. We will be in the Mayan Riviera for a couple of months this winter and will check out the Now Jade resort. Ciao.
I know exactly what you mean – but I would never toss out food that is good to eat. I give it to friends or neighbours, bring to work or freeze, and people are usually more than grateful. Otherwise, if the food isn’t good enough to share, it’s not good enough to post 😉
Hi Ksenia, good to hear from you, I hope you’re ebook is doing well. Yes, I agree it’s a shame to throw out good food but unfortunately it does happen sometimes.
When I was cooking my way through the Julie Child JC100 blogging challenge, I tossed quite a few things including an entire pot of ratatouille 🙂
Really? her recipes are so exact. In the last two days in my kitchen I tossed quite a few things. Wasn’t a successful week. That’s what happens when I follow recipes…