WHITE CHOCOLATE & RASPBERRY BLONDIES
The blondie is a curious thing, often described as a vanilla version of a brownie. To me, they are like eating the centre of a slightly underbaked chocolate chip cookie in traybake form, If that sounds like your thing, these white chocolate and raspberry blondies will be sure to impress you.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 12
115g butter
225g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
2tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp baking powder
180g plain flour
100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
100g caramelised white chocolate, roughly chopped (see icheffedit Tip)
7g freeze dried raspberries (see icheffedit Tip)
1/4 batch raspberry jam (feel free to use shopbought if you don't want to make your own)
METHOD
1
Place the butter into a medium-sized saucepan over low heat. Allow to melt, then turn the heat up to medium-high. Stirring frequently, allow to bubble away until browned and toasted. Pour into a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
2
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 7x7-inch square baking tin with baking parchment and set aside.
3
To the browned butter, add the brown sugar, and mix briefly to combine. Follow with the eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until almost fully combined. Add the white chocolates and freeze-dried raspberries, and fold into the batter until evenly distributed and no dry pockets of flour remain.
4
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, and smooth out with a cranked palette knife or spoon. Dollop spoonfuls of the raspberry jam over the top of the mixture, and marble through using a knife or skewer. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. The edges of the blondie should be set, but the centre should wobble. Consequently, I don't recommend testing its readyness with a skewer, but instead to have faith!
5
Allow to cool to room temperature for around two hours. Then, refrigerate for another hour - these steps are essential to ensure your blondies set, otherwise you will have a mess on your hands! After this period, cut into 12 bars or squares of your desired size, and enjoy! These will last in the fridge for 3-4 days.
icheffedit Tip #1
Freeze dried raspberries aren't the easiest item to come by, as only a few supermarkets stock them, so feel free to leave them out. Feel free to explore other flavours too. For instance, try swapping the raspberry jam for strawberry jam, or perhaps some lemon curd.
icheffedit Tip #2