Showing posts with label blondies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blondies. Show all posts

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Blondies

Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

Food Lust People Love: Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

Some of you may have noticed that my recipes are a haphazard combination of measures. Sometimes by weight in grams or ounces, equally often cups and milliliters and other volume measures. My problem is that I have moved all over the world collecting cookbooks (and recipes from friends!) so I have gotten quite comfortable mixing and matching. I own two sets of measuring cups, US and UK, where a cup varies from eight ounces in the former to nine ounces in the latter. I don’t actually own a separate set of measuring spoons, but I know that an Australian recipe calling for a tablespoon of something needs four teaspoons instead of the US three. Thank goodness all teaspoons are 5ml!

I have a wonderful set of vintage scales, a gift from my mother, procured by a dear friend in Aberdeen, which has both imperial and metric weights. This is my very favorite thing in my kitchen and until I bought a digital scale, and I used it all the time.



When using my US cookbooks, I often measure things out, then tip them in the digital scale and write the weight in pencil in the cookbook, so I can just weigh the item the next time I use the recipe. How we ever started using cups, I do not know, because weighing is so much easier - and more accurate!

If you too find yourself with a foreign recipe, online or in a cookbook, check out Traditional Oven, the website I often use for conversions. It has been a godsend! But whichever measure you use, you'll want to make my salted caramel pumpkin blondies.

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Blondies


To give everybody credit: My recipe was adapted from this recipe from BakedBree.com which was in turn adapted from this recipe from SingForYourSupperBlog.com which was in turn adapted from a recipe for basic pumpkin blondies from Annies Eats, who adapted hers from Martha Stewart. And so it goes.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g plain flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (245g) room temperature butter
1 1/4 cups or 250g brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Check out the link if you'd like to make your own.)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 cup store-bought caramel syrup with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt added or this lovely recipe. I made this myself and ended up with a much darker caramel sauce.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Combine all dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.





Cream together the butter and brown sugar until very light and fluffy in another bowl.


Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar.







Now beat in the canned pumpkin.


Finally, fold in the reserved flour mixture a few spoons at a time, and stop stirring when the batter is just combined. This is going to be really thick.


Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper and spread half the batter around evenly.


Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour the caramel sauce over the partially baked batter.


Carefully spoon the remaining batter over the caramel.


Spread to cover, as best you can. A gentle touch is key.

Food Lust People Love: Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

Return the blondies to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean. Let the blondies cool before cutting.

Food Lust People Love: Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle on more salted caramel sauce before serving.

Food Lust People Love: Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

Enjoy!

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Food Lust People Love: Alternating layers of sweet pumpkin batter and rich salted caramel sauce bake up into the most succulent pumpkin blondies you'll ever want to eat. Pass these around for your Halloween party, or even Thanksgiving dessert! They are that special.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

These White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies are lovely, chewy and rich baked with ground almonds and white chocolate, and then studded with tart dried cranberries.


When I lived in Kuala Lumpur many years ago, my friends and I played Pokeno once a month, taking turns hosting the evening. The host was in charge of the main course, and everyone else brought a side dish or salad or dessert. This is the note I wrote not long after one month that I hosted.


A open letter to my Pokeno ladies:

Dear Friends,
One of you brought a lovely salad to my house which contained dried cranberries. It was delicious! Along with the memories, you also left behind the unused portion of your bag of cranberries. It has been sitting on my countertop, mocking me daily, ever since. Please identify yourself immediately and you will get it returned in the form of these blondies. Just hot out of the oven.

Fondly,
Stacy

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup or 395g sugar
4 eggs
145g or 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted butter (This will be just shy of 3/4 cup, if you find that an easier measurement.)
30g or 1/3 cup ground almonds
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
65g or 1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup good quality white chocolate chips

Method
Combine sugar and eggs, mixing well. They should get pale yellow and a little fluffy.




Add in the ground almonds and then the melted, room temperature butter.




Mix in remaining ingredients, minus 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips. 




Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 30-40 minutes in greased 9in x 9in pan (or until toothpick comes out clean.) 




Watch for early browning, cover lightly with foil or turn temperature down if necessary. Do not overbake!  These will be moist and delicious if they are removed from the oven slightly underdone.


Melt the reserved chocolate chips in the microwave (you may have to add a little butter if they are too dry) and spread on top of the blondies.  Cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!