Well, as you could have guessed, I’m snowed in. This is the most snow I’ve seen in a very long time, especially for Arkansas! The snow nearly comes up to the bottom of my bedroom window, and my lab-mix is running around the back yard…and she looks like a leg-less dog just floating along the top of the snow. So, I’ve decided to make a snowy time treat. I chose blondies instead of brownies because its so darn white outside!
I’ve been flipping through the Williams-Sonoma Baking cookbook ever since I received it as a gift from my boyfriend for Christmas. I’ve tried a couple recipes and everything is so good and so simple! I can’t wait to bake so many things from the book, but it’s so hard to choose what’s next! I’ve obviously substituted a lot of ingredients, so if you want to lean towards the original: use only a.p. flour, butter, only brown sugar (no Splenda, no honey) and use macadamia nuts. My version is below. Stay warm and sweet!
White Chocolate and Almond Blondies
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma: Baking
(Originally “White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Blondies)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1 tsp honey
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds
4 oz white chocolate chips or chunks
~preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8″ square pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray
~In a large bowl, mix together butters, sugars, honey, espresso, and vanilla with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Slowly add flours and mix until just incorporated. Fold in nuts and white chocolate. Pour batter into pan.
~Bake appx 40 min or until toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack and cut into bars. Enjoy! (I bet these are even better a la mode!
