White Chocolate Blondies

Gluten-free

I realize that it is the first week of January and most folks are starting a cleanse, meatless months, whatever. While I think people can do whatever they like and whatever makes them feel good, I do not subscribe to the idea that a New Year means that I change my dietary habits or only drink juice for a month. 

I happen to think that something sweet is needed all year round and when you start the year with something sweet, the rest of the year will be sweet as well. When I was younger, this was usually the time that my grandmother would give us chocolate or candied fruit (which my sister hated, but I loved). As I was thinking about the treats I would want to start a new year, there was really one that came to the top of the list: blondies. 

I will always love blondies. They are the butterscotch cousin of the brownie, but equally delicious. I have made many blondies, varying little things in each recipe. Sure, all were delicious, but I wanted to make the ultimate version of a blondie: rich in vanilla-butterscotch sweetness, gooey and chewy in the middle and a crisp, golden brown top. This recipe gives you all of that. You can add mix-in’s you like to the recipe, just do what feels right. 

This recipe is a loose adaptation of Nancy Silverton’s La Brea Bakery Brownie recipe and Stella Parks’ blondie recipe in her book, Bravetart. Now, let’s talk about ta few key things in this recipe, ingredients and equipment-wise. 

White Chocolate 

When my brother started his chocolate company years ago, he informed my 17 year old self that white chocolate is not chocolate at all. It is a mixture of cocoa butter, milk powder, cane sugar, vanilla and soy lecithin. It might not be chocolate, but it is delicious and it is the key ingredient to getting the rich, floral vanilla flavor along with adding to the seriously gooey center of the blondies. 

When you are looking for white chocolate, I recommend getting the highest quality that you can. Why? Well you are going to get less weird ingredients, a better vanilla flavor and a higher cocoa butter level. That extra fat that is added to higher quality white chocolate (like Valrhona) gives you a seriously gooey, chewy blondie center. 

Brown Butter

I cannot say enough just how much better butter is once it is browned. The natural sugar in the milk solids brownies, separates from the fat, but still imparts a caramel-like flavor. The French call it beurre-noisette: nutty butter. Brown butter has a roasted, flavor that almost resembles toasted almonds and hazelnuts. That flavor of the brown butter balances the floral, vanilla of the white chocolate. The two combine to give that butterscotch flavor that we all want from a blondie. 

Browning butter is oh-so-simple, I promise. If you want, you can brown a whole pound of butter, pour what you don’t use for this recipe into a mason jar with a lid. Keep it in the fridge and you will have brown butter whenever you want it. 

Coconut Sugar

Almost all blondie recipes call for brown sugar. Brown cane sugar that is. While I do love me some brown sugar, I wanted something a little bit lighter in molasses flavor and richer in caramel-like sweetness. Not to mention with all the cane sugar that is in the white chocolate already, I think that the coconut sugar packs a little less cloying sweetness.  

Hand or Stand Mixer

While I usually use a whisk, the key step in this recipe is whipping a lot of air into the eggs before adding the flours, butter and melted chocolate. The air that is whipped into the eggs will expand when exposed to the heat of the oven, which gives the slight rise to the blondies. If there is not enough air whipped into the eggs, the blondies will be too dense (not that that is horrible). 

I used both a stand and hand mixer to test this out and I will say that I liked the results from the stand mixer better. With the stand mixer, I let the egg and coconut sugar whip for 5 minutes. The eggs should look pale yellow or tan and be super soft. You are not looking for stiff eggs, but rather ones that resemble a mousse, made up of tiny bubbles. 

Once you put in the work to whip up the eggs, sugar and flour, you want to be gentle when folding in the heavy butter and white chocolate. Be patient, with a light hand. 

Recipe

3oz/88g white chocolate, chopped 

130g (browns to about 113g) unsalted butter

163g (1 cup) coconut sugar 

2 extra large eggs, cold 

70g (1/2 cup) almond flour 

70g (1/2 cup) tapioca flour

1 cup chopped pistachios (optional) 

1/2 tsp orange blossom water (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8 inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, add the white chocolate. Set aside, in a small saucepan add the butter and heat over medium heat. Note: do not use dark colored saucepan; you want to be able to see the butter browning. Stir with a spatula as the butter melts, bubbles and then starts to foam; this takes about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the browned butter over the white chocolate; let sit for 5 minutes. 

In a large bowl, crack the eggs, coconut sugar and salt. Beat on high until the egg mixture is mousse-like. It takes about 5 minutes with a stand mixer or 10 with a hand mixer. You can do this by hand, but it will take a lot of time and arm muscle. Once the eggs and sugar are frothy and mousse-like, add half the flour mixture and beat to combine. Add the other half and beat again to combine. 

Stir together the white chocolate and butter until combined; add to the egg-flour mixture and gently fold into the egg mixture: go slowly. Once combined, add the chopped pistachios and orange blossom water (if using). 

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The top will turn golden brown and the center will puff slightly. Let cool completely before removing from the pan. Slice and enjoy. These babies are gooey in the middle and rich in vanilla-caramel-like flavor. I promise they will be a favorite. 

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days; in the fridge for a week and frozen for up to a month.