I loved Blondie, the late 70’s Punk/New Wave singer but I never really got blondies though. The non chocolatey/white chocolate alternative to brownies. Why would you have a brownie that was not full of rich and unctuous dark chocolate. That is just plain crazy.
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
Blondie- Heart of Glass
Or at least I thought until a baking and Jenga playing buddy of mine converted me with some fabulous blondies. That set me on a journey to create my own delicious gooey but not too sweet version. I dropped the white chocolate in place of a salted caramel and paired that with my favourite nut, the pecan. Whilst the macadamia may be the king of nuts and the cashew the queen. the pecan is resolutely the prince of nuts in my opinion.
The sweetness of the caramel from the brown sugar, set against a lovely salted caramel with the crunch of pecans is tough to beat. I tested it on my guinea pigs, sorry my work colleagues and they were a resounding success. They can be a tough crowed to please.
These are amazingly simple to make and will be demolished in seconds.
Makes: 18 blondies
Oven Temp: Gas 4, 350F, 180C (160C Fan)
Ingredients:
100g melted butter
60ml rapeseed oil
250g light brown sugar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
200g sifted plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
100g chopped pecan nuts
175g salted caramel sauce
Instructions:
- Pre-heat oven to 180c (160c) fan and line a square 9 inch baking tin with baking parchment.
- Melt the butter gently in a saucepan along with the oil.
- Once melted, whisk in the soft brown sugar and vanilla together until combined. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and pour into a mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the egg and additional egg yolk.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients and fold in gently until combined.
- Gently fold in the chopped pecan nuts.
- Press half of the batter into your tin.
- Drizzle the salted caramel all over the base and spread in an even layer.
- Blob the remaining batter over the caramel sauce and gently spread to cover the caramel evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top but still a little squidgy in the middle.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes then remove and cut into 9 squares. Then divide the square in half to make 18 triangles.
- 100g melted butter
- 60ml rapeseed oil
- 250g light brown sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 200g sifted plain flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 100g chopped pecan nuts
- 175g salted caramel sauce
- Pre-heat oven to 180c (160c) fan and line a square 9 inch baking tin with baking parchment.
- Melt the butter gently in a saucepan along with the oil.
- Once melted, whisk in the soft brown sugar and vanilla together until combined. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and pour into a mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the egg and additional egg yolk.
- Add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients and fold in gently until combined.
- Gently fold in the chopped pecan nuts.
- Press half of the batter into your tin.
- Drizzle the salted caramel all over the base and spread in an even layer.
- Blob the remaining batter over the caramel sauce and gently spread to cover the caramel evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top but still a little squidgy in the middle.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes then remove and cut into 9 squares. Then divide the square in half to make 18 triangles.
Oven Temp: Gas 4, 350F, 180C (160C Fan)