Thursday, January 06, 2011

Resolve to Make These Blondies

I know: you ate a lot of Christmas cookies. I know: you drank a lot of champagne. And I know: you're supposed to be eating healthy.
But you really should try these Toffee Brown Butter Blondies. They're just so good. I first tasted them at a bake-off (yes, I attend bake-offs occasionally) in 2009. I loved their nutty, almost savory-sweet flavor. So I tracked down the recipe (thanks, Martha) and made them for a barbecue last summer. I was a little nervous about making sure the butter was browned and had developed a nice hazelnut-y flavor, yet wasn't burnt--but I kept an eye on it, and it turned out just fine. I also cut them into diamond shapes (I learned how here), which somehow makes them seem more sophisticated than your average blondie (the camera angle here doesn't really do their shape justice). In addition to the nutty flavor of browned butter, these blondies are enhanced with bits of chopped walnuts and chopped toffee.
I made them again for a baby shower recently, and well, let's just say that I was very glad that cutting the blondies into diamond shapes results in a fair amount of "outtakes," i.e., odd-shaped pieces that you might not want to place on a dessert platter for guests, but that are just perfect for nibbling.
Make these blondies! Do it!

1 comment:

Gloria said...

I've been meaning to tel you: these blondies were my favorite dessert at the shower!