Blondies
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
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I too didn’t have a pan big enough for a water bath. I just cooked it for 1 hour and 30 minutes and then let it cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. I didn’t even cool it in the oven. I haven’t tasted it yet, so I don’t know if it turned out ok…but it looks just like my other that I made.
Hey if it tastes good who cares what it looks like?!
Regardless of how it looks, it’s the taste that matters! My cheesecakes look similar when I don’t do a water bath. Another idea with cheesecake is to make cheesecake truffles with leftovers (that is, if you even have any!) 🙂
If you get an answer to your cake running over problem would you mind sharing it? I had the same problem, despite the fact my pan met Dorie’s requirements. I’m also curious where I went wrong.
I’ve had similar problems, especially with the cracking, which I believe is from cooking too long. Once I started taking cheese cakes out based on time and not appearance the problem went away. I think a lot of cooking still takes place from the internal heat…just a theory…BTW, great marble effect on your cake!
Aawwww poor little cheesecake. To be honest I am not sure why your cheesecake fell but I know when I make cheesecake mine always bakes more evenly when I use a water bath also if the internal temperature reaches 160F (don’t quote me) it starts to make the cheesecake crack. Maybe next time don’t bake it as long? Either way taste is the most important IMO. 🙂
Clara @ iheartfood4thought