Blondies never get old. They’re easy to make, you can get creative with the ingredients, and they’re a great snack or dessert. I haven’t made them in a while, and this time I decided to use chocolate chips, maple syrup (from Canada, via Trader Joe’s) and peanut butter. This means that there are several sources of sugar to turn up the sweetness.
Typical blondie recipes call for butter. Now, I’m not against butter. I think butter’s great. I like to cook with it, especially in sauces. But there’s something unsettling about putting whole sticks of butter in one dish (the visual makes me think about what it’ll do to my arteries), so I substitute with oil (in this case, canola). I don’t know if that’s actually a healthier substitute (it’s a psychological thing for me, really), but it does give the same effect as butter: chewiness. The maple syrup enhances the chew factor.
Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar (I use brown)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 dollops of peanut butter
a pinch of baking soda
a pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F. Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl, then spread the dough flat into a baking dish. Cook for 20-25 min. or so. When ready, the inside will likely still be a little sticky because of the maple syrup, but the top should have a shell-like consistency.
ATB 