TWD- Chewy Chunky Blondies

Nicole chose this week's TWD recipe, Chewy, Chunky Blondies. You can find the recipe on her blog- Cookies on Friday.

You can also find the recipe on a post from when I made these a couple of months ago- when we were taking dinner to a local homeless shelter.
I doubled the recipe to make sure that there would be enough to go around and they were wildly popular. My husband was lucky enough to taste one and he was wishing that there were more to sample.
I used Heath bits, pecans, and toasted coconut in my blondies.

Check out the TWD blog to see who else loved these blondies!

Dorie's Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Everytime we make dinner to serve at a local homeless shelter, I make sure to choose something fairly easy for dessert.
Bar cookies are just about the easiest thing to bake, in my opinion.
These particular blondies are full of just about everything. Chocolate, nuts, Heath bits, and coconut, make for a lot of add-ins.
I have seen them on other blogs over the past couple of years, but can't remember exactly where. I knew they would be good, just because they were Dorie's recipe, so I made 2 huge batches and ended up with an enormous amount of blondies.

Usually we don't have a single drop of food leftover, but somehow I managed to bring 1 or 2 of these back home.
My hubby was happy to sample them and of course, was hoping that there were more to be found. He was disappointed to know that they were all gone.

We have a definite crowd pleaser right here, folks!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
(Source: Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p.109)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits (I used Heath Bits)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I used toasted coconut)

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

TWD- Caramel Crunch Bars and Rewind- Mixed Berry Cobbler

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Caramel Crunch Bars, was chosen by Whitney over at What's left on the table? You can find the recipe on her blog or go to this POST and find the recipe from when I made these last year. This recipe is one of the pictures in the book that really catches your eye. I made them last year when my hubby needed some treats for work and I made them into ice cream bars, like Dorie suggests, which turned out to be a very messy adventure. No one seemed to mind the fact that they were so messy. They disappeared quickly. The picture isn't great, but hey, it was taken many months ago. I rarely make something more than once, unless it is unbelievably the best dessert ever. Just because I like baking new things all the time. I haven't made these again, but I do remember them being a hit.
I also did a rewind this past week. For some reason back in June, I skipped out on the Mixed Berry Cobbler. I needed one to take to a get together recently, so I went back and made it. Very good. I doubled the fruit and 1 1/2x the crust, to make it fit in a 9x13-inch pan. I used mostly blackberries, but also some raspberries, blueberries and a few strawberries and lime zest. You can find the recipe for the cobbler- Here.
Now go and see what the other TWD'ers did with this weeks recipe!

Up Next- Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Sauce

Caramel Crunch Bars

This is the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours, that caught my husbands eye. I finally got around to making it and it was delish!
The batter looked like chocolate chip cookie dough
I tried to make the very cute ice cream bars that Dorie pictured in the book, but my ice cream was melting way to fast! I put them back in the freezer and wow! that was a real treat.

Caramel Crunch Bars (adapted from Baking:from my home to yours-Dorie Greenspan)

For the base:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the topping:

6 ounces milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup Heath Toffee bits

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9*13-inch pan with foil and lightly butter the foil.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon.

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla.

Add all the dry ingredients and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Turn the mixer on and off quickly a few times and take off the towel when the dry ingredients are mixed in a bit. Mix, on low speed until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated and add the chopped chocolate. Mix until dry ingredients disappear and if chocolate isn't evenly mixed, finish the job with a rubber spatula. Scrape the dough into the buttered pan and with the spatula and your fingers, press it gently into a thin layer.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the base is bubbly. You will be able to hear it popping. It will be pulling away from the sides of the pan a tad. Transfer the pan to a rack and turn off the oven.

Scatter the chocolate chips evenly over the top of the hot base and put the pan back into the oven for 2-3 minutes, until the chocolate is soft.

Remove the pan from the oven and spread the chocolate with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the toffee bits over the melted chocolate and press them down lightly. Place the pan on the rack to cool to room temperature.

Once cool, carefully lift the foil out of the pan, and cut into small squares.

If you want make ice cream sammies but hurry because the ice cream will get soft fast.