brewer's blondies.

I dunno... if I can call them "blondies" that is. I think they're more somewhere in between a cookie and a blondie. How about clondies?


Why do I say that? 


Well, they had such a hard crust on top, like the kind you see on cookies. I'm not sure if it was my oven, but I do like a crunchy crust. They were also a little cakey, yet dense. And definitely chewy. Sort of like a chocolate chip cookie. Only in bar form.


The batter was really thick. I mean really really thick. It was practically cookie dough batter. Trust me, I could actually shape the batter into the pan, never mind scrape. Perhaps that's why the blondies had cookie-like qualities. Because they practically are!

But do I like them? Hmm... They're good, but not great. The malt didn't stand out enough in the batter itself though. Most of the malt comes from the maltesers. The toasted walnuts were a genius idea. I think brown sugar has an affinity with the toasty flavour of the walnuts. 


The only thing I did differently was to reduce the amount of sugar. Because with maltesers and chocolate chips, there's plenty of sweetness to go around already. And I still felt I could reduce more!


The recipe said that they're best when warm, and if you so will it, a scoop of cold creamy ice cream. I like the sound of that.


But if the freezer is oh-so-tragically out of ice cream, a pinch of salt sprinkled on top works wonders too.

Brewer's Blondies
from Baked

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 3/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup malted milk balls, coarsely chopped in a food processor*You can put the maltesers in a ziploc bag and bash them up with a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor. Great stress relief technique!
3/4 cup (9 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and malted milk powder
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on the medium speed until completely combined.  Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined. 
Add the flour mixture in two batches and beat until just combined.
Add the malted milk balls, chocolate chips, and walnuts and beat until just combined (about 10 seconds).  The mixture is really thick.  
Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan and use and offset spatula to spread it evenly.
Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the blondie comes out clean.