I am excited to announce that I am submitting these cookies to be featured as a part of Deck the Blogs on Oprah.com! Be sure to check out all of the great recipes and holiday ideas from all of the featured food bloggers!
Ever since I saw that Kamran from The Sophisticated Gourmet chose brown sugar as this week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient, I have been thinking about making blondies. When I think of brown sugar, I instantly think of cookies (and candied sweet potatoes, but that’s another recipe). Since I just made coconut lime cookies last week, I decided to mix it up a bit and make some blondies this week. Besides, sometimes it’s nice to just pour batter into a pan and walk away for 25 minutes!
I was extremely pleased with how these blondies turned out (I feel like I have redeemed myself for my burnt cookie bottoms the other night!). I adapted the recipe from the blondie recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, adding the peanut butter and adjusting the other ingredients accordingly. The resulting cookie bars were dense, chewy, and super delicious with the undeniable flavors of brown sugar and peanut butter!
Before I get to the recipe, though, I must add a quick note about my total respect for real food photographers. I have seen some pretty amazing photos! While I would love to someday be a writer/photographer, I am well aware of the fact that I am far from what I would consider to be a “real” photographer… I just like to take pictures, and I get lucky sometimes (more often, I don’t). When I started taking pictures of my blondies, I decided that I would attempt a milk dunking shot. Easier said than done. Two “photo shoots” and a huge mess later, I settled on the picture you see here on the left.
There are other, more interesting, photos that I will share in another blog post in the next few days. Until then, enjoy some peanut butter blondies dunked in milk!
Peanut Butter Blondies
(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups dark brown sugar (I prefer dark, so that’s what I use)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup peanuts
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from the heat, and stir in the peanut butter. Allow to cool while combining the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt – in a large mixing bowl.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the brown sugar and peanut butter mixture, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared dry ingredients, and stir to create a thick, smooth batter.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, spreading the batter evenly to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with the milk chocolate chips and peanuts, lightly pressing them into the batter.
Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. Cut into 1-2 inch squares and serve (with milk, if you like).
I wish I had one for an afternoon snack!
That “dunk” shot is awesome. I can totally appreciate the degree of difficulty. Nice job and the blondies look fabulous.
I love that first photo. Now you’ve got me craving blondies. Can you believe I’ve never had them before. Eek. Where have I been? I must remedy that ASAP.
Your photos look great and they certainly do the blondies justice. Like you, I’m obsessed with trying to take better food photos. It’s just fun, even though my family groans.
Ohhhhhh YUM.
That is all! lol. They look so yummy!
these look absolutely AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to try these!
I think the photo is great! But the blondies themselves are even better!!! I love them almost as much as brownies, and that’s a lot!
Jenn, I love blondies! These look very delish! And the first photo is great! BTW, do you line your cookie sheets with parchment papers when baking cookies?
Mmm… the blondies sound so good! I would really love one for my late night snack :)
Oh man, I TOTALLY feel you on the food photography thing. I always admire how they get everything so perfect – the lighting, the set, the composition, the accents… not one stone is left unturned! I often am rushing to get my photo before the food gets cold, or often, I never have enough sunlight to get a good photo. I am still trying to learn! But your photos are ALWAYS so gorgeous and this one is no exception, I LOVE the shot! Your colors are always great, your photos crisp. And now I think I may just try this recipe today… I have never made blondies and I just bought a bag of brown sugar…
The photo is gorgeous!
I used to work for a “real photographer” and his stuff wasn’t nearly as good as half the foodie bloggers out there. It takes a love of food to get a good picture, and that is what you have.
Oh Jen these look awesome! Everyday I look at other people’s blog and I’m blown away by their photography. I need help in all areas of my blog, but have no idea where to even start. I bought my domain name but now I just need to figure out how to make my blog look more professional and then I’m considering buying a nice DSLR and taking a photography class. Anyway, your blondies look amazing and I’m blown away at how awesome your dunk shot looks. Great job!
I LOVE blondies, these look amazing!
Love the picture!
great job on the photos! It really does take time to master food photography. I recently bought a dslr and I’ve been practicing up a storm with taking photos. I find lighting is not an issue when you have a DSLR as long as the room is well lit and there isn’t a shadow overcast on the food, you’re good to go!
now those blondies look amazing, I want a piece of that!
Yeah for blondies! The peanut butter, chocolate combo sound so good right now.
Off to make a batch!
Oooo… I could use one of those just about now. They look fantastic Jen!
I’m drooling looking at your pictures. I am such a fan of peanut butter and chocolate together. I bet I would love these!
Oh my goodness!These blondies look and taste fantastic!!!!!!!!! I saw them on this movie called
Nancy Drew.
Beautiful photos! I can’t wait to try them :)
I just made those today and they are delicious! I already sent friends to your site so they could make them, too. Would you mind if I translated the recipe into German and shared it on a cooking website?
I made these and they’re just ok. Hard to mix, doesn’t really spread In the pan, they came out under baked and crumbly at 25 mins. Also wayyyy too much sugar. I’ll keep looking