I've felt this way for years

Blondies.

I am gonna go out on a limb here, but I think these may just be the best go to dessert there ever was.  A hybrid cookie, brownie, pie.... yes please.

As a kid blondies were much more common in our house than say your typical chocolate brownie.  To me they represent the best of all worlds. The proverbial cake that you can eat too.

As great, and easy as they are, in all honesty I don't remember the last time I've had a blondie. It just may have been a decade, a dessert lapse I find truly tragic.  Don't worry, I fully intend on bringing them back.

I found this particular recipe in One Sweet Cookie by Tracey Zabar. I of course had to make my own adaptations to account both for nostalgia and newly acquired dessert aesthetic.  The biggest change I made was swapping Ms. Zabar's pecans for chopped walnuts.  As far as I am concerned this is a must. Required really. Blondies have walnuts and that's just the way it is. Sorry pecans, but they're just a better nut.

Secondly, instead of regular bittersweet chocolate chips I used a combination of semi-sweet chips and bittersweet bars.  Personally I like the combination of bitter and semi, as well as the texture difference between chips and chunks.

Finally, rather than use a typical square brownie pan I baked my blondies in a 9 inch deep circle pan.  Thus, accounting for my newest obsession with pies, tarts, and all things round and delicious.


So in honor of a mother who instilled in me a love for a far superior brownie, here you go...

Blondies or (cookie pie) 
Adapted from One Sweet Cookie 


1 3/4 chopped and toasted walnuts
2 cups golden brown sugar 
8 ounces butter
2 large eggs 
1 tablespoon Madagascar Vanilla extract 
2 cups All-Purpose Flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt 
8 ounces chopped bitter sweet chocolate 
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 


Preheat oven to 350.  Place parchment paper on cookie sheet, line with chopped walnuts and put in oven for 5-9 minutes or until toasted.  Melt butter in saucepan.  Measure brown sugar into bowl.  Pour melted butter on to sugar and beat. Add in eggs and vanilla. Beat again. Add in flour, salt, and baking powder, and mix again just until incorporated. Fold in walnuts and chocolate.  Spread evenly into a pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Eat. Enjoy. But please refrain from mocking brownies too much after trying these.