Seems I might have been the only person on the planet that did not know that ‘blondies’ existed. Neither did I realise that they are the apparent cousin to brownies. How did I not know this? Sheltered life maybe…

Any I came to this ‘discovery’ because I developed a sudden craving to eat what I thought would be peanut butter brownies. When I Googled those words, multiple recipes came up, but the one that caught my eye was this one from the Baking Mad website. It appeared easy enough to make and a I had all the ingredients in my kitchen cupboard.

I think I have been making brownies all wrong…

These blondies were fantastic. The sweetness of the chocolate pieces and the crunchy texture of the walnuts made for a mouthwatering combination. As much as I have loved the previous recipes, I don’t think I can go back to them. Taste-wise yes, but texture wise, I realise that they have been on the dry side. It was, interestingly a comment a friend of mine, did make a few years ago when she noticed how few eggs there were in the recipe. I have now learnt my lesson…Although interestingly this recipe has only one egg, so it’s clearly not all about the eggs!

Ingredients

For the blondies

• 100gButter (unsalted) (softened, Plus extra for greasing)
• 150gPeanut butter (crunchy)
• 1 tspVanilla extract
• 175gUnrefined golden caster sugar
• 1Egg(s) (free range)
• 75gWhite chocolate
• 75gWalnuts
• 125gPlain white flour
• 1 tspBaking powder

For the decoration

• Dark chocolate (a few squares, Melted)
• White chocolate chips
• Walnuts (a handful, Chopped)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, 325°F, gas mark 3). Grease a 20cm/8 inch square tin with butter and line the base with baking paper
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together until creamy, using an electric hand whisk at medium speed.
3. Add the vanilla, sugar and the egg, and beat again until light and fluffy
4. Chop up the white chocolate and stir into the mixture along with the chopped walnuts.
5. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and fold in, using a large metal spoon.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake the mixture in the middle of the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until it has a nice golden crust but is still fudgy in the middle.
7. Leave to cool in the tin. Decorate with white chocolate chips and walnut pieces and drizzle over some melted dark chocolate. Cut into squares and serve

You can find the recipe here: https://www.bakingmad.com/recipe/peanut-butter-blondies