who doesn't love brownies? they are pretty much the bomb. i don't think everyone shares the same love of everything chocolate, however. there are a few soles out there that don't necessarily love that rich, dense, chewy treat…for these people, blondies may be the answer. basically a brownie sans chocolate, blondies have that brownie texture and are oh so dense and chewy.
second question: who loved whoppers as a child? i loved the milk carton container that they used to come in and the crispy, airy texture when you bit into one. this may seem off topic but ties in well with the treat of the week. my brother required a lil' snack while he was doing my taxes - seems like a fair trade to me! i get my taxes done by someone else and all i have to offer is some baking in return. i had ample ingredients at home but wanted something uncomplicated and quick…blondies! he loves cookies, and well, these are cookies but in bar form. then i stumbled upon some Ovaltine and Maltesers in my baking cupboard that i was saving to make Whopper Blondies…perfect!
the beauty of this recipe is that you can substitute in so many different fun ingredients - for the purists, chocolate
chips are great but for the adventurous, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and toffee bits are divine…any combination of dried fruit and nuts create a dense granola bar. i was inspired by the Brewer's Malt Blondies from my new fave cookbook 'Baked' but didn't want soooo many blondies (last thing I need is leftovers!). i just grabbed a simple blondie recipe off of www.marthastewart.com and tweeked it a lil'. the result was just as I had hoped…chewy, not too sweet and a bits of crunchiness from the whoppers.
the recipe:
adapted from www.marthastewart.com
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp Ovaltine (preferably chocolate flavour)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed Whoppers or Maltesers
* prepare 8x8 baking pan by lining with parchment or brushing with melted butter
* combine melted butter and both sugars
* whisk in egg and vanilla
* fold in flour, salt, Ovaltine, chocolate chips and Whoppers
* spread into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees C for 40 minutes or so, until the point of a knife comes out clean
* allow to cool to room temperature and cut into bars, store at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months
