Recipe: TKS Blondies!

For the past week, I've been on a quest to create the perfect blondie recipe. I've decided to make the kids their lunch every school day (something they've done on their own since late elementary school) as a challenge for myself for the next several weeks. As I'm a cook by trade, I thought that maybe I should actually cook something.

You know blondies...right? They're not chocolate like brownies, but are more like a bar form of chocolate chip cookies. With searching and testing and tweaking, I think I've worked out a terrific recipe that is the perfect mix of ooey and gooey. You can even whip them up today without a trip to the store - they're that easy.

TKS Blondies
Makes 9 big blondies or 16 small

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but they're delicious!)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Spray an 8" x 8" pan with non-stick cooking spray. Tear a piece of foil approximately 18" long, then fold to fit bottom of pan, leaving excess hang over opposite sides to form a sling. Spray foil lightly with non-stick spray (like that --->).

Place melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl and stir to combine. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl, and stir well to combine (it will seem a bit dry, but just keep stirring until it is all just combined). Add chocolate chips and walnuts, then stir to combine again. Spread batter in pan and bake for 23-25 minutes, until center no longer jiggles when shaken, and edges are puffed and beginning to brown.

Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Use sling to remove blondies from pan and place on rack to cool completely before cutting...if you can resist. ;)

Chef Chris