Blondies

I was looking for a casual dessert to take to a barbecue that would complement the brownies I was already making. This recipe appealed to me as it used the same quick and easy method of a saucepan brownie and didn’t have too many add-ins, only nuts and chocolate chips.

Then I noticed the "upgrades”, variations of the basic recipe, which most of the recipes in this book provide. One included adding natural peanut butter and replacing the walnuts with hazelnuts. I thought this the perfect opportunity to use the natural hazelnut butter that was languishing in my pantry. This variation has a reduced amount of sugar and is finished with a sprinkling of sea salt.

This was the most heavenly blondie I’ve ever tasted “ it had the chewiness one expects but it was nowhere near as sweet as they usually are and with the toasted hazelnuts, semi-sweet chocolate and touch of salt, it was quite the sophisticated tasting bar.

I doubled the recipe to bake in a 9”x13” pan and was able to cut it into 63 squares once it was chilled. Next time, I will press slightly on the chopped nuts and chocolate chips that are sprinkled on before baking as a little of this topping was lost during cutting.