Based on Best Blondie Recipe from SugarSpunRun.com
I was inspired to make Blondies this weekend after I watched the season finale of Ben and Jerry’s Clash of the Cones on the Food Network. The finalist, Rabia, made a Hazelnut and Toffee Chip Blondie chunk for her ice cream. I’ve made Blondie’s before usually used either walnuts or pecans, along with butterscotch chips, but the combination of hazelnuts and toffee sounded wonderful.
I decided to use the technique for a moister Blondie, as suggested by the “Best Blondie Recipe.” However, since I was baking for some vegetarians, I used plant butter in my recipe instead. I have used plant butter before, and I haven’t seen much of a difference in the consistency of the batter or cookie using this substitution.
Usually I cream together the butter and sugar, but this recipe suggested melting the butter. You do end up with a much looser batter as a result. I also toasted my hazelnuts for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until i could smell the scent of the nuts and the nuts darken slightly. This releases the oils and gives you a much richer flavor. Keep the toffee chips in the refrigerator until the last minute, to keep them from melting away as they are baked. This also works for chocolate chips. Be sure to roughly chop the nuts before adding them to the batter.
Unfortunately, as I was mixing all the ingredients together, I realized did not have enough vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is basically vanilla beans and vodka, so I substituted chocolate bitters for the remaining teaspoon. You will only get a slight hint of chocolate flavor in the Blondie.
If you are baking in a metal baking pan, you should definitely line your pan with parchment paper then spray it with a little cooking spray. If you use a Pyrex 13 x 9 inch dish, you can just spray the dish with cooking spray. I baked the batter for 25 minutes and it was still a bit loose, so I continued to bake for an additional 10 minutes until the toothpick came out clean.
Depending on how large you cut your Blondie, you will end up with anywhere from 15 – 30 bars. I hope you enjoy my adaptation.
Hazelnut and Toffee Blondies
Ingredients
Credit: SugarSpunRun.com
- 1 cup plant butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp chocolate bitters
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 bag toffee chips
- 1 cup chopped hazelnuts
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray 13 x 9 Pyrex dish with cooking spray.
- Melt butter and combine with granulated and brown sugars and stir well.
- Add eggs, egg yolk, vanilla extract and chocolate bitters and stir completely.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder together.
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet and mix until completely combined.
- Stir in chopped and toasted hazelnuts and toffee chips.
- Add batter to prepared baking dish and spread evenly.
- Bake for 25 – 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.
- Cool and serve.
Variations
- Replace all the vanilla extract with chocolate bitters.
- Replace the hazelnuts with pecans or walnuts.
Baking with Marilyn 