Peanut Butter Blondies
These peanut butter blondies are rich, chewy, and packed with the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 262kcal
Equipment
- 1 8X8 baking pan
- 1 King Arthur Baking Parchment & Mats" class="wprm-recipe-equipment-link" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">parchment paper
- 1 saucepan for browning butter and mixing batter
- 1 skillet for toasting pecans
- 2 bowl one for mixing dry ingredients and one for eggs
- 1 whisk
- 1 set of teaspoons
- 1 set of measuring cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup pecans chopped and toasted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 stick
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 egg yolk large
- 1 tablespoon real maple syrup
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup peanut butter chips ¼ peanut butter if chips are not available
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Chop the pecans and toast them in a heavy sauté pan, stirring continuously, until light brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside.½ cup pecans
- In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly, until golden brown, for about 4 minutes. *Do Not Leave Unattended! Once the butter starts to change color, it could burn rather quickly.8 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp real maple syrup, 1½ tsp vanilla
- Remove from heat and add both sugars until well blended. Let cool to barely warm.⅔ cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup sugar
- With a rubber spatula, stir in the egg, egg yolk, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined.1 egg, 1 egg yolk
- In a medium mixing bowl, using a whisk, mix together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, ⅛ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp salt
- Add the flour mixture, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and toasted pecans from step 2. Scrape batter into the baking pan and spread to the edges.½ cup peanut butter chips, ½ cup chocolate chips
- For fudgy blondies, bake 20 to 25 minutes; for a cakier texture, bake up to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs when fudgy, and clean for cakier.
- Remove pan from the oven and onto a cooling rack. Let it cool until easy to handle but still warm.
- Cut into 8 to 12 pieces and serve as is or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- You may add a light baking spray or butter at the bottom of the pan to keep the parchment in place. Or you can use binder clips and avoid the extra butter.
- Brown the butter: Do not skip this step. Melted butter gives blondies their chewy texture, but browned butter takes the flavor to another level entirely — deeply nutty and complex.
- Do Not Leave Unattended: Important enough to say twice. Once the butter starts to change color, it moves fast. Pull it off the heat a shade earlier than you think, because it continues to darken off the burner. the same with the pecans. Once the pecans begin to toast, they could burn quite fast.
- Measure brown sugar by weight: If your brown sugar does not ‘pack’, believe me, mine doesn’t, then weigh it.
- Don't overmix: Stir just until combined after adding the flour. Overmixing develops gluten and leads to a tough, dense bar.
- Use an instant-read thermometer: The toothpick test is subjective — moist crumbs mean different things to different people. A thermometer removes all guesswork. Pull the blondies at 200 to 210°F for a perfectly set, fudgy center every time. This is the same standard used in professional kitchens.
Nutrition
Serving: 2Oz | Calories: 262kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 391IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 1mg
