Blondie Brownies

I had promised to bring over the blondies from previously to a family function, but when I saw this recipe in a book that I have (Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook), I couldn't resist. I've made a couple of recipes from the book before - one of the chocolate chip cookies versions and white chocolate brownies. The chocolate chip cookies were not all that, though the white chocolate brownies were tasty enough. Nevertheless, I decided to go for it, though I adapted it very slightly. =) So here we go!

What you need:

Blondies:

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 3/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownies:

3/4 cup plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (whoopsie, just realised I forgot to add this in)

1/2 teaspoon salt

300g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped finely

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup salted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 large eggs

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line a 10-inch square baking pan.
2. To make the blondies, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until they are well-blended. Mix in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture until it is well-blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter (it will be very stiff, almost like cookie dough) evenly into the prepared pan. Set it aside.
4. To make the brownies,  in a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.
5. In a large bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and vanilla.
6. In a saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and water. Bring the mixture just to a boil. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and stir until it is melted. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture and mix until it is just combined.
7. Pour the mixture over the blondie mixture and spread it evenly.
8. Bake the brownies for 40-45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out with a moist crumb. Don't overbake. When they are cool, cut them into squares.

Whew, that was a pretty long recipe, eh? Because there are two layers, it understandably takes awhile to make, but it's nothing too serious. :) It took longer than I expected to bake, most likely because I used a slightly smaller baking tin, but in the end, all was firm enough to cut without being too gooey. So that's good, right?

Anyway, the results are pretty (though a bit messy). The two tones look very nifty, people kept on asking whether I baked them together or separately. A friend had suggested that I put in white chocolate chips into the brownie layer, making a contrast of sorts with the blondie layer. Sort of a negative image, haha. That's a cool idea, I'd keep it in mind for next time. The brownie layer also had a lovely crackly crust, but because we were cutting these into pretty small squares, we were hard-pressed to keep that crust intact. Ah well.

Apart from that, these were very well-received, I think. Less than half remained at roughly 10 minutes after sungkai. Not a bad record. :) The whole thing was slightly chewy, not at all cakey, and very delicious... Mmm! I particularly liked the edges, but that's always the case with brownies. I find the edges are the best bit.

So anyway, I think this recipe was a success. I don't really like trying recipes from this book, as it doesn't really have a lot of pictures, but I've earmarked a couple more recipes to try before puasa is over. Look out for them! :)

Quote of the day: Caramels are only a fad. Chocolate is a permanent thing.