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. 
What an awesome way to feature goat cheese in a dessert! I never thought of turning it into a chocolate mousse – sounds like I need to try this soon. 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:51 am
You definitely should. I know goat cheese isn’t for everyone, but we really enjoyed the subtle flavor in the mousse.
Jen, I love everything about this tart – from the chocolate crust to the mousse and the pretty strawberries on top. Yum! Enjoy your birthday month 🙂
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 am
Thanks for humoring me on the whole birthday month thing 🙂
Ohhh lalalalala, I totally dig this dessert even more because it has goat cheese and strawberries…some of my fave foods!! Happy Birthday month…you better party and eat like it’s your birthday!!
beantownbaker — June 7th, 2013 @ 1:52 pm
Oh I’m definitely going to party like it’s my birthday! All month long 🙂
oh yes to the goat cheese in this tart! fabulous. happy birthday month 🙂 you might need to make this a few more times to celebrate?!
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
Oh I have been baking plenty of deliciousness this month to celebrate 🙂 You know how hard it is to repeat recipes…
Love the idea of incorporating goat cheese in a dessert- I have never seen it down with chocolate before. I will definitely be trying this soon as I have some goat cheese in my fridge waiting to be used 🙂
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 7:20 am
Oh yea, goat cheese and chocolate go really well together.
Oh my, the use of goat cheese in this is phenomenal! I would love to try it!
beantownbaker — June 11th, 2013 @ 8:46 am
Definitely do! And you could top it with any fruit you like. I think raspberries would be good too.
Chocolate must work great with goat cheese since they’re both utterly delicious!! This recipe looks magnificent omg I think I would be able to eat the whole tart by myself *-*
Goat cheese is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts, and your tart looks soooo delicious! Thanks for sharing =) Definitely a must try this summer.
Oh wow this is gorgeous! I love this recipe, I bet it tastes heavenly!
I just finished making my second one for this week…we love it…it is so smooth and rich and well D E L I C I O U S!!!…my grandson requested the second one but truth be told I was gonna make it anyway…the bittersweet chocolate and the cocoa in the crust are what make it….if anyone out there hasn’t tried it do so you will be in love….
beantownbaker — June 25th, 2013 @ 5:38 pm
So glad you’ve enjoyed it! I definitely need to make this again. I have already made it with raspberries but want to try blackberries next.
you wont believe it but I made this AGAIN yesterday…I did a play on bananas foster on the top…it was a hit with my company…and good recipes for sweets for the 4th?..lol….
beantownbaker — July 3rd, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Wow – bananas foster on top. I would never have thought of that! I am making this tart and this strawberry shortcake for the 4th.
So sinful and delicious looking 🙂
Holy yumminess. I never thought of putting goat cheese in. My mouth is watering at the thought. Strawberries are my absolute favorite berry of all time. I will have to for sure try this recipe, Got it saved to my personal file. thank you.
I love chocolate mousse and I love goat cheese, so clearly I need to make this!
Also, there is strawberry picking (not sure it is organic though if that matters) up here near Oxford. I can get you the info for next year if driving up here is not a problem (I imagine it depends on what side of Cinci you live 🙂 ).
beantownbaker — August 4th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
I definitely don’t mind driving for freshly picked strawberries!!
I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this recipe! It’s hard to beat mixing tangy goat cheese with chocolate and berries. What a unique recipe!
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
It tastes as good as it sounds! I hope you try it.
WOW! What a wonderful recipe! Definitely one of my new favorites! Happy birthday month!
Does this go in the fridge covered or uncovered and how long does it last? Thanks!