Brewer’s Blondies

If you’re a fan on Facebook, you may have seen me mention that on Friday I picked up a jar of Biscoff spread while I was out shopping. If you’ve never heard of Biscoff spread, you’re not alone. It’s taken the food blog world by storm in the past few months, but prior to that I wasn’t at all familiar with it. The spread is made from Biscoff cookies (which I’d also never heard of, but they’re apparently served on at least one big commercial airline and are quite popular) – it’s sort of similar to peanut butter in consistency and color. Anyway, I resisted the urge for as long as I could, but finally I had to see what all the hype was about. The jar sat untouched in my kitchen all weekend. This morning, instead of reaching for the peanut butter to spread on my English muffin, I grabbed the Biscoff. And now I totally understand why everyone has been raving about it, it’s delicious!! I love peanut butter, but I thought the Biscoff was 10x better. I had originally planned to bake with it when I bought the jar, but we’ll have to see if I can keep my spoon out of it long enough for that to happen 🙂

And now, with that Monday morning tangent out of the way, we can talk about blondies. I haven’t baked all that many blondie recipes because, to be honest, I don’t really love them. I probably wouldn’t have been drawn to this one either had it not included malted milk powder: my obsession continues! I’m really glad I tried it though because these were everything I want in a blondie. They baked perfectly – none of those raised edges and sunken centers (a big blondie pet peeve of mine). They’re packed with brown sugar so they have lots of sweet caramel notes. And of course there’s the malted milk powder, not to mention malted milk balls and chocolate chips. These were sitting on the counter cooling when Shane came home from work a few weeks ago, and I think he nearly ruined his dinner snacking on them. A definite repeat at our house, and also an awesome dessert if you warm one slightly in the microwave and top it with vanilla ice cream!

Brewer’s Blondies
from Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

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, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup malted milk balls, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 13×9 baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on opposite sides to lift the blondies out afterward. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and malted milk powder together in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in two additions, beating just until incorporated. Mix in the malted milk balls, chocolate chips and walnuts briefly until distributed throughout the batter.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread in an even layer with an offset spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the blondies cool for at least 20 minutes before lifting them out and cutting into squares. Store at room temperature tightly wrapped with plastic wrap.