My daughters announced today that it was cookie time again, it must have been torture for them waiting so long – I mean it’s been a week since we made the Linzer Cookies – a whole week! what a terrible mother I am. I was prompted to start flicking through my pile of magazines and cookbooks in search of this weeks sugar hit and then remembered that I had seen these on the Bon Appetit web site. And they looked very good.
As the name describes, they are chewy and chunky. Chunky being the pecans and large (by our design) chips of milk chocolate that are scattered through the bars. The addition of the coconut lends a nice touch and almost made me feel as though I was eating something healthy (ish). They have the characteristics of a good brownie being slightly crisp on the outside and dense and fudgy on the inside. The girls are happy with my choice, as am I – now, I had better be on the ball and start planning next weeks sweet delight. Bon Appetit!
2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
226 grams/8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
170 grams/6 ounces best-quality milk chocolate, chopped into chip-size pieces
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325f. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best as you can.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The cake should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes. You can now invert the cake onto another rack, and then turn it over onto a rack and cool to room temperature. Alternatively, you can keep the blondies in the pan.
Cut the blondies into 32 bars, each roughly 2 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches.
Source: Adapted for Bon Appetit from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
