Choose your own adventure
Sometimes life and blog do not go hand in hand. For instance yesterday I had a bag of funyuns as a post-gym snack. Also occasionally (re: often) recipes don’t work out exactly as planned. Case in point: I prefer blondies/brownies/bar type confections when they’re about two times as thick as the ones you see pictured here, and I made them that way while I was testing this recipe. So why aren’t you looking at photos of THOSE blondies? Well because I thought baking them in a larger pan would make the recipe better. In some ways I think it did. For one the OG blondies took nearly 45 minutes to bake! Time is a luxury people, and even I who work from home, do not have children, and can tell you exactly what happened on Bachelor in Paradise this week, don’t have 45 minutes to wait for freaking blondies. So I tweaked the recipe. And now they bake in less than half the time – which is great! Buuuuuuuuut they’re kinda skinny. They still taste ridiculous, but something about sinking your teeth into a big hunka, hunka blondie love is just really, very satisfying.
So below you’ll find the same recipe, with two separate pan sizes and respective baking times. Choose your own adventure – timely and thin, or leisurely and THICK.
Regardless of which one you pick, you’ll be rewarded with a rich, fudgy, brown buttery, lightly caffeinated treat. If you’re unfamiliar with the blondie concept (like my husband and most of his co-workers were) they’re like brownies minus the through line of chocolate. Instead they’re packed with brown sugar, vanilla, and butter which makes them caramel-y and sweet and just the dessert treat you didn’t know you needed. Oh, and there is a little chocolate in there. I’m not a monster after all. Happy Friday!
Chocolate Chip Coffee Blondies
This makes a relatively thin blondie that bakes in a reasonable amount of time. However, you can make them in an 8×8 pan which will result in a much thicker, but also much fudgier blondie. If you do opt for that version they will take about 45 minutes to bake.
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 25 Minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 Blondies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 ½ C light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp instant espresso powder
2 T strong brewed coffee
1 C all-purpose flour
⅓ C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 C chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350° F.
In a medium pot or skillet melt the butter over medium heat, swirling frequently. It will go through a few different phases. First it will melt, then it will bubble and form an opaque foam. The foam will subside and the butter will more or less become clear. Then the butter will bubble up furiously (big soapy bubbles). Once those bubbles begin to subside the butter will start to smell nutty take on a darker color. Butter goes from brown and beautiful to burned pretty quickly, so keep a close eye on it, swirling it constantly. When the darkest parts (it won’t all be perfectly uniform) resemble the color of a nicely aged bourbon, pour the butter into a small glass bowl or measuring cup, making sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot/pan. Set aside to cool (I usually chuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes).
Grease a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment or aluminum foil so it hangs over two of the sides making a sling (this will help you remove the blondies from the pan later).
In a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, combine the eggs and brown sugar. Mix at medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture changes from dark brown and syrupy to light brown and fluffy.
Add vanilla, espresso powder, coffee, and the cooled brown butter. Mix to thoroughly combine.
Mix in both the flours, baking powder, and salt on low speed until almost no dry flour remains.
Sprinkle in half the chocolate chips and finish mixing by hand with a spatula.
Pour batter into your prepared pan and use a spatula to push it evenly to the edges and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top.
Bake for 20 – 24 minutes, or until the top turns slightly shiny. I would err on the side of under-baking personally as I prefer a fudgier texture.
Let cool in the pan for at least an hour. Remove using the parchment sling, cut into bars and serve.
Notes
*These will continue to firm up as they cool, even more so if you pop them in the fridge – I prefer them this way.
Keywords: coffee dessert, chocolate chip blondies, unique dessert
