You could call the blondie the brownie's cousin. The brownie derives its character from a deep rich cocoa base for the chocolate flavor. A blondie's flavor is butterscotch-like, based on a high quantity of butter and brown sugar in the recipe.
Know Your Cookie:
A blondie is considered a sheet cookie because its soft batter spreads across a sheet-like pan to bake. Other types of sheet cookies include brownies and rainbow cookies. After sheet cookies are baked, they need to cool and can be cut into squares, rectangles, or any other shape.
George's Blondie
Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 12-18 Blondies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of sweet butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 cups semisweet chopped chocolate pieces; or chocolate, or butterscotch chips
Optional: 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour an 8 x 12 x 2-inch baking pan.
In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt well. Set aside.
Cream butter in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar, and cream on high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
On a low speed, add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, stopping the machine to scrape down the bowl well after each addition. On a low speed, add flour to the butter mixture and mix just until flour is absorbed. Do not overmix.
By hand, fold the pecans and chocolate in with a rubber spatula.
Optional: if using coconut, mix 3/4 of coconut with pecans and chocolate.
Using a spatula, spread the batter into the baking pan, making sure the batter is spread evenly and smoothly. If using coconut, sprinkle extra on top of the batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. caution to not overbake. Blondies are baked when the cookie springs back when pressed lightly with your finger or a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 2 hours, and cut the blondies into rectangles or square pieces.
