Vanilla Cream Blondies

So we're T-minus like 3½ days until vacation, and I feel like all I'm doing is rushing around. Granted, some of it is my own doing, because somehow that always happens that way.

Back in March - maybe? - I decided that I needed to read fifty books BEFORE vacation. That way, ya know, I wouldn't fall behind and what not. Yesterday I finished A Homemade Life by the lovely Molly of Orangette, and that was number forty-eight. So I have between now and Thursday night to read two more books. I think I can do it.

Also on my "Kristen put too much on her plate" list is my own little tradition with friends. For their birthday, they get their own request of a baked good. Whatever they want (within some reason, however; something that's easily portable is a must), and they don't have to share it with anyone if they don't want to. Pretty good deal, right? Except here, all of a sudden, I have three friends with birthdays between May 1st and May 9th. Thank goodness Rachel (the May 1st birthday) said that she'll take hers after my vacation. (Seriously. Thank you lol) So that leaves me with Marcos (tomorrow) and Tasha (Saturday).

Marcos' first request was something with bananas. Um, nope, sorry. LOL I don't like bananas. At all. Taste, texture - ugh. Yuck. So after much deliberation and harassment, he went with something with vanilla. Works.

I had the idea of cream cheese blondies, but could never find anything that really clicked. The recipe I did eventually find (after two days of searching) was over at Group Recipes. I played around with the quantity of vanilla, pretty much adding a bit at a time, until I felt there was enough vanilla-ness. :)

The result? A blondie that's dense yet almost cake-like at the same time, with a vanilla flavor that really makes me question whether I really want to bring these to work tomorrow or not. Just kidding. I promise I'll bring them in. Really. ;)

(They're already packed in a box, thus no picture. But I really wish I had a chance - and better lighting - since the swirls came out so nicely this time!)

Edited to add: So the blondies? They were all gone before 3pm. And supposedly Marcos shared them. ;) I think that has to be a new record. LOL


Ingredients:
9 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2½ tsp. vanilla
1-2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
3-4 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Gradually add dry ingredients. Spread half of the batter onto the bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, butter, flour, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Spoon 2/3's of cream cheese mixture on top of blondie batter and spread evenly. Gently top with remaining blondie batter. Drop small dollops of cream cheese on top and gently swirl.

Bake at 325F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out nearly clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Updated: PB Blondies with Chocolate Chips

So, sadly, my cupcakes the other didn't turn out the way I had planned. The taste that I was aiming for was faint, and the texture on the top was just... odd. It's back to the drawing board on that one.

This is an update post on a recipe I made a while back. Amelia's birthday is coming up, and this was her birthday request. The original was thought up during a 'cake break' at work. Aww, I miss cake breaks!

Anyways, the recipe is really simple, just a basic blondie with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Like a thicker cookie bar, if you use the recipe off the bag of Nestle's chips. :)

(No picture as the lasagna's almost ready! lol)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mix to the butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Key Lime Coconut Blondies

Did everyone remember to change their clocks? (At least, those that do.) Normally the spring forward doesn't bother me, but I didn't get to go to bed as early as I liked. Thus six hours of sleep does not make for a happy Kristen. And this is dangerous, posting this now, seeing as my eyes are painful, but I've been procrastinating. Again.

Oh! Good news - my dad's home from the hospital. He was sprung loose on my best friend's birthday, coincidentally the day before his own. Also good - the weather this weekend.

After the six inches of snow last Monday, 60F weather was a very nice surprise on Saturday. Too bad there's more snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Poo. Anyways, when I woke up on Saturday, the sun was shining, the snow was melting, and I wanted something summery. And you know where that led to.

Found at one of my favorite blogs, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, this is my second attempt at this recipe. The first time probably didn't even get blogged about because I was lacking coconut and it just wasn't a good thing. This time, all the ingredients were in the house. Woohoo!

---Okay, an email later, I'm back. Seriously, the procrastination is at an all new level tonight. So, where was I?

Alright. The recipe. Comes together really easily. Is a very dense blondie, almost bordering on a cake-like quality. The only thing I would change is upping the lime quantity, but that's just me and the Lime Monster talking. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, cake flour baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

Beat brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the key lime juice. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in shredded coconut. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

White Chocolate Coconut Blondies

I will get this posted, one way or another. I'm not allowed to pick up my book, watch Jeopardy, or go to any other website until this is posted. I made these on Wednesday and things just kept getting in the way every time I attempted to get these posted. Even now, it's "Hmm... I should see when that bill is due." Nope, don't do it, Kristen. Post!

Alright. *determined sigh* I had a 'bonus' day off this week, and decided that I should bake something to mail out to Johanna. I texted her early in the morning, asking if she had a specific blondie in mind (she's very fussy about brownies, preferring, sadly, the box mix kind). Well, with no response within about 30-45 minutes, I went with these, having seen them many times over the years at Very Best Baking. Minus the macadamias, since we didn't have any in the house. *shrug*

They came together easily enough, but the finished product didn't leave me all that wow'ed. Maybe more coconut next time? I don't know. Any suggestions?

(No picture due to lack of time on Thursday morning, pre-mailing lol)


Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup white chocolate chips
½ cup coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in morsels and coconut. Press into pan.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Butterfinger Blondies

I did a Very Nice Thing today. Yep. Early in the morning, too. Less than half an hour after waking up.

I let Dave choose what I was making today. :)

I showed him some of my options and he wasn't thrilled by any of them. And then he held up the bag of Butterfinger Jingles and said, "Do something with these!" A bit more discussion - no peanut butter this time, no extra chocolate - and here we are.

He was even nice enough to chop up the Butterfingers, too. (I told him I'd post that, too LOL)

This is my go-to recipe for blondies, because it's super easy and involves little clean up. There's a nice brown sugary taste to them that goes well with the Butterfinger flavor. I used about half a cup of them, but you could do more or less, depending on how much you like the stuff. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
½ to 3/4 cup Butterfingers, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour and baking powder; set aside.

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in Butterfinger pieces. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16.

Swirled-Chip Blondies

Hello, Humidity. It's 9:30pm and I think it's past your bedtime.

Yep, we're on the verge of some rain and storms, and in the summer here, that means serious humidity. Humidity with a capital H that makes my long, thick hair completely disagreeable, and that makes me question my sanity once having the oven on for twenty minutes. But did that stop me? Nope. I baked earlier in the day. I figured I would go with something everyone in the house would like, in case they don't like my lime/raspberry combination that I'm working with tomorrow morning. :)

These are super-simple blondies. Minimal bowls, just one measuring cup, etc. It's a good thing. Target had the swirled morsels on sale, so I grabbed a bag of those. As a side note, for those sometimes-forgetful folk: if it's over 80F outside and you're shopping, buy baking chips at the END of the errands. Otherwise you'll have a nice peanut butter/chocolate mixture that has to be put in the fridge and later eaten as a snack. Hmph. *shakes fist in anger*

On that note, my dad's already eaten three of these. Two of which were before dinner. And I like using my dad as a food-gauge, because he's the type that can eat the same kind of sandwich every day for lunch without a problem. He eats because he has to. Obviously I get the food-love from the Portuguese side of the family, not the English/Irish. ;)



Ingredients:
2½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup butter, melted
1-3/4 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 bag of chocolate/white chocolate swirled morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, beating until fully incorporated. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup of morsels. Spread into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining morsels on the top.

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Toffee Blondies

In yet another attempt to work through some of the bags of baking chips I have left, I decided to make blondies for Johanna last night. We only work together for three more days, so it's only fair. Plus I thought I'd surprise her.

There was about half-to-three-quarters of a bag left of the Heath Toffee Bits, thus our blondie was born.

No picture, as it was late last night when I made them and then very early this morning when cutting them to bring to work. Jo's happy with them, so that's what's important. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Heath Toffee Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour and baking powder; set aside.

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in toffee bits. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting. Makes about 16 bars.

Toffee-Almond Blondies

It was a few months ago when I first tried almond butter. It was at Whole Foods, one of their free samples, and I was just blown away. Unfortunately, it was like $12 for a jar, and, well, I work in retail. That explains everything.

Two weeks ago, one lazy Saturday morning, Dave and I, in our travels, went over to Piazza's in Palo Alto, where I discovered 8 ounces of almond butter for $3.99. Perfect.

Instead of hunting down a brand new recipe to try, I went with the recipe from the pb blondies from a few weeks ago. (Okay, so I did search, but with no luck) The almond butter had some crunch to it, where I would rather prefer smooth. But the finished product came out very good. I found some toffee bits floating around and added some of those in there, too. The bars would be good with or without them, it's up to you. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup almond butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
¼-½ cup toffee bits (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter, almond butter, and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in toffee bits, if using. Spread into pan.

Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out mostly clean. Let cool before cutting into bars.

Honey Blondies

If it weren't for the hideous-looking apple butterscotch bars, I wouldn't have made these. But for some reason, the butterscotch chips I sprinkled on top, as directed... they stayed put in the oven, but upon cooling, half of them sank. So I have bars with sinkholes. Not pretty.

So I started searching, knowing that I had a bear of honey in the cabinet that I hadn't used. Finally came across this on the National Honey Board website. The picture looked decent, the recipe easy enough, so why not, right?

Oh, have I mentioned that I'm not a big fan of honey, simply because I never really had it growing up? Or at least not that I can remember. So I don't know what I expected, but these are... different. They seem a bit bland, and almost have a cornbread-like texture. Dave agrees. Two of my guinea pigs get them tomorrow, so we'll see.

On a happy note! I found almond butter at a decent price AND I bought Girl Scout Cookies today. Oh, yes. Happy day, indeed. Add blue skies, sun, and 68 degree temperatures... does it get any better? :)



Ingredients:
1 cup honey
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Cream butter and honey until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour and baking powder; mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread into pan.

Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Mini Reese's-Filled Peanut Butter Blondies

I don't understand the current baking spree these days. Thank goodness I have people at work more than willing to eat what I'm making!

Since Dave isn't a ginger fan, I offered to make him whatever he wanted yesterday. Of course that involves peanut butter. :)

Pretty basic recipe, I found it on the Hershey's website. AND, more excitingly - for some reason, a close-up picture that I took actually came out clear! For the first time ever! :D



Ingredients:
3/4 cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter or margaine, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) Reese's Baking Pieces Filled with Peanut Butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch baking pan.

Beat peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to peanut butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Spread one half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle baking pieces over batter. Drop remaining batter by 1/2 teaspoonfuls over mixture, covering baking pieces.

Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 16 bars.

Ginger Blondies

Baking fiend these days, aren't I? LOL Actually, no, I keep dreaming of baked goods and feel compelled to make them, that's what it really is.

And it works out that Myriam of Browniebabe of the Month said we could enter two recipes. :D

So, the inspiration for this one came from a dream this morning. I used my normal blondie recipe, but it took some time to figure out how much ginger to use. Thank the Baking Gods that I toned it down from the original thought of a tablespoon! There are two teaspoons in my batch, but the next time around (and, trust me, there will be), I'll use just 1½. I like ginger, but not THAT much!

They're very soft and moist, a very pretty golden color. I have a feeling most of these will go to work with me on Sunday.





Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. ginger
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla
1 large egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger; set aside.

Beat brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 16 bars.