Blueberry Blondies
Gluten-free
When I was about 6, I became obsessed with one book: Blueberries for Sal. My mom would read it to me when I was younger and, when she was finished, I would thumb through the book and look at the illustrations while I ate blueberries. Of course, I would also walk around the garden or really any space with plants, looking for blueberries (no, I did not eat every berry I found, but I did eat the beach plums).
Eventually, I found a blueberry patch on Martha’s Vineyard and was able to have my Sal moment. Blueberries are the fruit that always reminds me of those humid, sunny summer days, walking bare-footed in the sand, through the grass and eventually sitting on a lawn chair with a bowl of blueberries. Many may think of blueberry pie here, but I am not a pie person. I know. It is a controversial opinion, but pie is not the best.
I would take a blondie over pie any day. So, blueberry blondies.
These blondies are somewhere between a coffee cake, a blondie and a clafoutis. The edges get crisp and crunchy, the middle stays soft and chewy, with a delicate crumb and a burst of blueberry tart-sweetness. And it is all mixed and made in a sauce pan, minimal dishes.
Brown Butter
There is nothing better than brown butter in baked goods and it is the easiest thing to make. All you do is heat the butter until the milk solids, where the natural sugar is, caramelize and impart the most insanely delicious, nutty flavor to the melted butter.
I start with cold butter, cut up into inch chunks in a cold saucepan. Over medium-high heat, I constantly stir as the butter melts, bubbles and froths. After about 5 minutes, you still start to smell a nutty, vanilla aroma and the melted butter with start to foam. You can do this with a whole pound of butter, use the amount you need and save the rest in a lidded jar in the fridge. It is insane with toast.
Just do not use salted butter. When you heat salted butter, the salinity will just increase. No one wants salty blueberry bars.
Almond Flour
While I do long blondies made with all flour, there is something about adding a little almond flour that changes the texture of these blondies. Since almond flour is made from, well, almonds, there is fat in the flour. Why is fat good? Fat adds moisture and creates a more tender crumb and gives these blondies their unique texture. Using only the gluten-free flour mixture would give these bars a dense, chewy texture (nothing wrong with that). Adding the almond flour, changes them from dense to slightly more cake-like, but still with a tight crumb.
I am not feeling very verbose today, so let’s get right to the recipe. If you do not have blueberries, use whatever fresh fruit you have. Strawberries sound yummy, maybe some chopped apples. mangoes, or raspberries.
RECIPE
148g (about 1 stick plus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter
63g (1/4 cup) cane sugar
200g (1 cup) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
178g (about 1 cup plus 2 tbsp) Gluten-free measure-for-measure flour (Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite)
72g (1/2 cup) super-fine almond flour
1 tsp salt
Pinch of baking soda
1 cup fresh blueberries tossed in 1 tbsp flour
Preheat your oven to 350F and liberally grease an 8 inch square baking dish. Line it with parchment for easy removal.
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the butter starts to foam and brown. It will take about 5 minutes. Do not step away from the pan; it goes from brown to burnt in the blink of an eye.
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly for 10 minutes. Add the sugars and whisk to combine. It will look split, but do not worry; things will get better once you add the eggs. Speaking of eggs, add them and whisk vigorously after. You do not want sweet scrambled eggs.
Use a spatula to mix in the flour, salt and pinch of baking soda. Add the floured blueberries and gently mix in. You don’t want to burst the berries. Pour into the prepared pan, using the spatula to spread the batter evenly around the pan.
Bake for 27-31 minutes, just until the top is golden brown. Let cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing. It is the perfect spring-summer dessert in my opinion. Drizzle a little runny yogurt over them, maybe some ice cream, or just on their own.
Store at room temperature in a covered container for up to 8 days.