Dirty Blondies
“Dirty” doesn’t have the same edgy cache it did last fall, what with all the hand washing and not touching things, but dirty blondies remain in regular rotation around here nonetheless. W has developed a habit of making these when he wants something cookie-like; they’re like chocolate chip cookies in bar form – blondies with a bit of a chocolate edge that take approximately three minutes to stir together.
I’ve made the same blondies for eons, with browned butter and dark chocolate and white chocolate and berries, but came up with these for Dirty Food specifically because I thought a dirty blondie recipe would be perfect. To make the dirty chocolate swirls, you take spoonfuls of batter and dip the side of the spoon in a small dish of cocoa before dropping it into the pan – you could also add chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, or do both.
You then swirl the spoon (or a knife, or a skewer) through to make a marbled effect before you bake them… in a square pan, typically, though you could use any similar-sized vehicle, including a skillet if you want a skillet brownie-cookie sort of thing to scoop ice cream on top of and bring to the table (or couch) with spoons. If you’re going to bake, these require minimal time investment, but are just as satisfying as those more elaborate projects.
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350F.
2In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. (If you want browned butter, keep it on the heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the foam starts turning golden and the mixture smells nutty.) Pour into a medium bowl and stir in the brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir just until combined. If you like, add a handful of chopped chocolate (or chips).
3Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment (or butter it) and put the cocoa in a shallow dish. Scoop up large spoonfuls of batter and dip the side of the spoon in the cocoa, then drop the batter into the pan—the idea is to get some cocoa interspersed throughout the batter. Draw the tip of a skewer or knife through to create a swirled effect and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and just set.
4Makes 12-16 blondies.
I made these this morning. Mine turned out more cake like than brownie or cookie. I think it was because I was interrupted when making them and the batter sat for nearly a half hour prior to me spooning them into the pan.
I will try again…
I was craving something sweet and they hit the spot.
Hmm… that shouldn’t make a difference! Perhaps you had a very large egg? or did you use a butter substitute?
I made these yesterday. I took them out of the oven too early, thinking they were done but found when I cut them they were not. So I put them back in for another 5 minutes. They’re probably a little more crispy around the edges than if they hadn’t had a second trip to the oven, even still, they’re DELICIOUS! So so good. I’ve somehow misplaced my 8×8 pan so I made them in a 9″ pie plate and they worked great.
Yay, so great to hear!!
I’m going to give this a try!