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 »

14 Responses to “Harry Potter Cupcakes”

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clstar — August 4, 2009 at 12:31 pm

OMG, I am in love with these cupcakes! They’re so awesome! I love HP, and I made owl cupcakes when the movie came out. I might need to give these a try before going to see the IMAX 3D movie.
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thegreatpantryraid — August 4, 2009 at 2:42 pm

How cute are those?! And i was wondering how you got the lettering so perfect – thanks for the step-by-step. Lol – I just dragged DH to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry – I’m sure he’ll be happy when the final movie comes out and he doesn’t have to hear about it anymore!
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thecookingnurse — August 4, 2009 at 2:43 pm

Great job, how lucky are your friends?
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Jen — August 4, 2009 at 2:57 pm

I’m so jealous! My two sisters are going to the exhibit this weekend. I thought about flying to Chicago to join them. Luckily I found out the exhibit is coming here in October. Whew!
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Erin — August 4, 2009 at 5:57 pm

These look fabulous! You did such a great job on them!
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Katie — August 4, 2009 at 7:25 pm

WOW JEN!! Those are fantastic!! Better than professional! Seriously, what talent you have to make those! 🙂
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Jen — August 4, 2009 at 7:28 pm

Aw thanks Katie – you’re making me blush.
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Ingrid — August 4, 2009 at 7:30 pm

I hate when cupcakes do that to me too. Instead of baking up they bake out! 🙁

Love your Harry Potter cupcake toppers! Very cute and creative!
~ingrid
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Manda — August 4, 2009 at 10:27 pm

Hi Jen! A friend of mine forwarded me your page for HP Cupcakes and I just wanted to drop in and say that I think they’re awesome and I want to run home now and try to create some fun hp themed cakes! I had done some in the past–cauldron cakes if you will, by buying mini cauldrons and cutting the bottom off so the tops sat just on the cakes and then used a bit of green frosting on the inside. You should join up with the HP-MA crew! We’ve been organizing some meet-ups for Boston Fans!
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Jen — August 4, 2009 at 11:58 pm

Sounds awesome Manda.
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nutmegnanny — August 5, 2009 at 8:09 pm

Oh my goodness, what adorable little cupcakes!
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annieseats — August 6, 2009 at 1:25 am

So so cute! And yeah, those “HPs” must have taken FOREVER. I have a fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe that never fails me here: http://annies-eats.com/2008/07/18/vanilla-cupcakes/. Also, I recently made Dorie’s perfect party cake into cupcakes and had great results with that as well.
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bcallegra — August 7, 2009 at 12:47 am

I love your HP cupcakes! I too am a huge Harry Potter fan but I have to admit, I don’t think I’d be patient enough to make cupcakes and toppings as cute as yours!
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Karin — April 8, 2010 at 9:23 pm

These are so awesome!! I wish I would have seen them and did some of these with the HP cake I did!!