Chocolate Chip Blondies - For Budgets!

Well, there is a new favorite dessert in town... these chocolate chip blondies are seriously to die for. At night, we often crave a little sweet - and I'm often torn between making the yummy, taking the time, or sometimes I just don't have all of the ingredients. These blondie bars are almost like a cookie bar but have the density and the softness of a brownie. Have you ever had a cookie bar that you've almost busted a tooth on? That won't happen with these. These are soft but sturdy enough to hold in your hand.

The original recipe is from Taste of Home. I've adapted the original and made a few modifications. Don't you agree that Taste of Home has the BEST recipes?? It seems like every one I've ever made from there turns out wonderful.

As usual, I'll post the modified recipe in it's entirety at the bottom of the post.

First off, preheat your oven to 350. Then, get out two bowls. In our first bowl, we're going to combine:
• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (This is where my major modification comes in: I use Imperial 53% vegetable oil spread. I'll explain why below)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used medium sized eggs without a problem.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use the imitation vanilla extract because I am cheap.)

Mix it all up until it looks like this.

So now you're wondering... why not butter? Why Imperial? a) It was the only thing I had in the fridge at the time. And the box even says "Great for Baking!". Ha. b) The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter. A 1/2 cup is a whole stick of butter, and I don't know if you've seen the price of butter recently, but I like to make things stretch and a whole stick of butter used on one dish isn't stretching it in my book. PLUS, I believe that butter would probably make these very flat when cooked. The veg oil spread does provide a bit of density. c) Related to the price of butter - this whole box (4 1/2 cup sticks) is only 79 cents at my local Save-A-Lot. Score in my book! It's this box if you're not familiar.

So back to the baking! haha. In your second bowl, you're now going to combine:
• 1- 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (not baking soda!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Mix well. You'll end up with this:



Before combining the two bowls, get 1 cup of chocolate chips ready to go. I use semi-sweet. Combine the flour bowl into the liquid bowl. Mix a little bit, then add your chocolate chips in and continue to mix until the flour is all combined in.



Your oven should be preheated to 350 at this point. This is another modification I did - I used a square glass baking dish (it's either 9x9 or 8x8... I'd tell you but it's filled with these blondies right now ;)) instead of the 13x9 the original recipe calls for. Why? I really wanted dense blondies. These are a little more than an inch thick when they're done and it makes for just a really awesome bite. So lightly grease up your dish, whatever you decide... I use Crisco to grease my dishes for baking. Then, using your spatula, empty the yummy looking mix into the dish.

Oh yum.

Another modification coming up... the original recipe calls for 18-20 minutes at 350. Maybe it's my oven, maybe it's because I made these a lot thicker by using a 8x8 or 9x9 vs a 13x9, but there is NO CHANCE these are done in 18-20 minutues. If you're going to do a 13x9, 18-20 minutes is a good starting point. If you're doing a smaller dish like me, I did 22 minutes normally, then used my "speed bake" function on my oven for another 9-10 minutes. You're really just going to have to check this one towards the end. If you don't have a speed bake option on your oven, I'm going to guess these take about 25-30 minutes normally, maybe even 30-35. This is really not a quick cooking recipe but it is so quick to put together, you've got to forgive it a little. ;) Insert a toothpick in the middle when you think it's close - if the toothpick comes out generally clean (I inserted it right into a chocolate chip once... whoops) you're go to go. They cook a little bit more in the pan when out of the oven.

After they're done...

In my household, these don't even last long enough for me to get a decent picture! haha! You can see the awesome top layer and the dense middle in this picture though. Enjoy! They're great even days afterwards (if they last that long! ;))

Chocolate Chip Blondies - Modified for Budgets!

• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (Or spread/margarine)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (Medium size is fine)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Imitation is good too)
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla just until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to brown sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread into either a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan and bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, or in a smaller square baking pan and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. Either way, bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Thanks for following along!