Until
this point, I have developed a few different takes on a blondie. At first, I thought it was a brownie, without
chocolate. I thought it would be fudge-like
and dense. Then, I thought a blondie was
really just a chocolate chip cookie in bar form. It seemed like a blondie was a different
dessert, with different textures, to different bakers. So, what would my desired blondie texture be?
I
thought blondies should take the crusty/crispy top of a brownie, the slightly
softer center of a chocolate chip cookie, the fluffiness of a cake, the chewy
edges of a brownie, and be its own dessert—not an ill comparison to other desserts. Can all this exist in one humble
dessert? SPOILER ALERT—keep reading!
I
earmarked a Browned Butter Blondie recipe weeks ago, but it was not on the top
of my to-bake list. I really just love
almost anything with brown butter!
Sunday afternoon I wanted to bake a treat to take into the office the
following morning. I initially planned
on making cookies, but with a kitchen at 88F before I even cut on the oven, I
just did not feel like being stuck in the kitchen in and out of the oven every
13-15minutes! I still wanted to bake
though and thought making a bar would be the perfect solution.
I
went through a few cookbooks and internet recipe prints outs before I
remembered the earmarked recipe and my curiosity was re-peaked. Best of all, I kind of had all the
ingredients, or at least substitute ingredients that went well together, on
hand. I created Brown Butter Toffee
Almond Coconut Blondies. The toasted
coconut really gives these blondies a little something extra flavor and texture
wise. It started as a filler because I
did not have enough almonds, but after tasting it all together, it is a
requirement (unless you are allergic or do not like it). I used extra fine shredded unsweetened
coconut; using of the normal sweetened shredded stuff might yield a less
pleasing texture and the sweetness would be way too much.
These
blondies were Oh, My Goodness, Awesome! The
texture was not like anything I have had before. It was not brownie without chocolate; it was
not a cookie in a bar form; it was a Blondie—a remarkable dessert in its own right. The taste is subtle of brown butter and brown
sugar. You get a nice crunch from the
almonds and a sweet little burst from the toffee bits. Lastly, the coconut is almost undetectable,
but it added a lusciousness and secret flavor.
Brown Butter Toffee Almond Coconut Blondies
Adapted
from Recipe Girl
Ingredients:
1
1/2 cups (3 sticks) Butter
2
1/4 cups All-purpose Flour
1
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1
1/2 tsp Salt
4
Large Eggs
2
cups Brown Sugar
1
TBS Vanilla Extract
1
cup Toffee Bits
1
cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1
cup Almonds, sliced
Method:
1.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Spray a 9x9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Line
the pan with parchment paper so that it covers the bottom and comes up the
sides of the pan. Spray the parchment paper with nonstick spray as well.
2.
Browning the butter: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue
to heat the butter until it turns a deep golden brown. You will notice foam on the top, brown golden
particle on the bottom of the pan, and a nutty smell. It will go from melted to browned butter quite
quickly. Keep an eye on it, so it does
not burn. Burnt browned butter is
bitter. Remove from heat and let it cool
to room temperature.
3.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until
light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla and browned butter,
scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients, as
needed.
5.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Lastly, fold in the toffee bits, coconut, and
almonds. Scrape/pour the batter into the prepared pan.
No comments:
Post a Comment