Blondies

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Hubby and I decided to send baked goods to our moms on Mother’s Day this year. Of course I was happy to help. I wanted to make something that would travel well and (of course) something I’ve never made. Since we were preparing for our kitchen renovation at the time, I also wanted to use up some of the random half bags of cookie mix ins.

Blondies fit my requirements perfectly. This blondie recipe is pretty well known. I made one batch with just dark chocolate M&Ms and another batch with some white chocolate chips, toffee bits, and chopped walnuts. Both batches turned out great and the one with the white chips turned out better than I expected. That combination of mix-ins tasted like butterscotch.

Blondies – from Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen

6-7 TBS butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional, creates lighter blondie texture)

“Add in” (see below)

Preheat oven to 350.
Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.
In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for 5 mintues. Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder (if using). Mix in any additions (some ideas below).

Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle. (I baked for 22 minutes)Cool on rack before cutting.

Add in ideas:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate or butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds
1/2 cup M&M candies1/2 chopped Reese’s PB cups
1/4 cup toffee pieces
1/2 tsp mint extract in addition to, or in the place of vanilla extract

Bars and Brownies, Dessert

9 comments »

18 Responses to “Shipping Cupcakes in a Jar”

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CB — November 9, 2008 at 4:22 pm

I love it! Where did you get the jars? Now I totally wanna do this for xmas gifts!
/Clara
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2

Jen — November 9, 2008 at 4:23 pm

I looked everywhere and just couldn’t find them. I ended up ordering them from Amazon. They weren’t very cheap so that was a bummer…
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CB — November 9, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Ah bummer. What size are the jars? I wonder if Ikea would have them? Whats the amazon link?
/Clara
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Jen — November 9, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I ordered them from here. You want the wide mouth jars so the cupcakes fit and the 1/2 pint size is perfect.

The yellow cupcakes didn’t rise much so I added more frosting to fill the jar and the chocolate ones rose quite a bit so they had less frosting. My sister said that the chocolate one had the perfect amount of frosting or could use a smidge more, so you want a cupcake that has at least a small dome.
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ttfn300 — November 9, 2008 at 7:29 pm

haha, i’ve never seen that before 🙂 love it!
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Katie — November 10, 2008 at 1:14 pm

OH FUN! I’ve seriously always thought about doing this and never did. I’m starring this post to remind myself at Christmas. Too cute!!
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Janna — November 11, 2008 at 2:46 pm

I have been dying to try this ever since I saw it last year on someone else’s blog. They actually baked the cake in the jar and then iced it like a cupcake. I am going to have to order some of those iddy jars! Too cute!
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Beth — November 16, 2008 at 4:25 pm

Hmmm…might have to do this for Christmas instead of those “ingredients in a jar” thing we were thinking of.
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Renée — March 12, 2009 at 3:24 pm

I really want to try this, but I keep reading online that you shouldn’t put frosting in the jar because it will get moldy by the time it reaches its destination. I’m sure you would have heard if it was moldy when it got to your friend right? I would just be so embarrassed if that happened. Any help?
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Jen — March 12, 2009 at 3:30 pm

Renee – I’ve done this twice and both times haven’t heard of any mold. I froze the cupcakes/frosting in the jars prior to shipping them. I also shipped in the winter. My one sister even didn’t go get her package from the office until a week after it arrived and it was still good. I would guess she ate her cupcakes about 10 days after I sent them. I’m not sure if shipping in warm weather will have an impact on potential mold…
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Renée — March 12, 2009 at 3:33 pm

Alright I’ll definitely give it a try then. It will make for a very good Easter present for my faraway friends =)
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Jen — March 12, 2009 at 3:35 pm

Oh that’s a good idea!! I might have to order some more jars and do the same myself…
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Hillary — June 5, 2009 at 3:25 pm

What a clever idea! I would love to get a cupcake in the mail! 🙂 Maybe I’ll send out Valentine’s Day Cupcakesnext year!
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CuteCupcakesAllTheTime — May 6, 2010 at 5:39 pm

This comment has been removed by the author.
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CuteCupcakesAllTheTime — May 6, 2010 at 5:40 pm

Love these!! We have featured you on our blog. http://cutecupcakesallthetime.blogspot.com
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Pat — February 16, 2013 at 11:19 am
Did you freeze them before shipping? The jars looked frosted…
- beantownbaker — February 24th, 2013 @ 10:21 am
  
  I did freeze them. They defrosted as they were shipped. I’ve done it with and without the freezing depending on the weather and whatnot.
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PinkSuga — October 27, 2014 at 7:38 pm

What shipping method did you use? Overnight or Express???