Blondie Bites

Blondie recipes are actually quite a tricky recipe to properly pin down. White chocolate has such a different character to dark chocolate, in chemistry as well as flavour, so that if you try to substitute white for dark in a brownie recipe, it just doesn’t work. There are loads of attempts out there, but all of them I’ve tried (a lot) are either overly dry or just a bit too on the mushy side.

With this recipe, though, I think I’ve just about nailed it. It’s so good, I’ve had to split it up into little “bite-sized” portions to try and stop myself eating the whole tray in one sitting. Which doesn’t work. It’s also fool-proof. Short of dropping the tin or the dog eating it, I can’t imagine it ever failing. I tried to calculate the calories in a whole batch of these, but I gave up when I got into the thousands. That’s how good these are.

Step 1

First, preheat your oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas 2. Line an 8-inch square baking tin with a torn-off section of baking paper (non-stick greaseproof). Just shove it in there, and so long as it’s non-stick, don’t worry about any greasing.

Step 2

In a microwaveable bowl, weigh your chocolate and butter. Place these in the microwave on high in 30-second bursts until they’re just melted. You don’t want them overly hot or else you’ll end up scrambling your eggs.

Step 3 

In a large bowl, mix together your eggs, yolk and caster sugar. You just want the sugar combined with the eggs; it shouldn’t be whisked vigorously. Once together, add in your melted chocolate mixture and mix this in until combined.

Step 4 

Finally, add in your flour and fold gently together. Resisting the urge to overmix at this point is crucial to good blondies. Once your mix is nearly-smooth, stop, and pour it into your tin.

Step 5

Divide your blondies into wee bites by placing hazelnuts on top of your raw mix in a square pattern – I like a 6 by 6 grid, making 36 bites in total. After that, place the tin in the oven and bake for at least 50 minutes to an hour.

Step 6 

You’ll know when they’re done when they are properly risen and golden brown on the top. They shouldn’t ever become springy, but they’re cooked when they’re not gooey if you press down with your finger in the middle. Leave them to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before slicing into little squares with a sharp knife.

Top Tip:

You don’t need to use hazelnuts – each wee square can be demarcated by any nut you like; macadamias work particularly well. Or why not try it with a blueberry? Go wild.

Enjoy!