Chocolate Pecan Blondies

I have never made blondies before and have been holding onto this recipe since 2005. They were a snap to whip up and were very tasty; they reminded me of the huge ‘skillet cookies’ some restaurants have as a dessert.

I was convinced these wouldn’t work because my batter was so thick. Like wet asphalt thick, or maybe marzipan thick. I was convinced I’d missed an ingredient and reread the recipe over and over. I was sure it was too thick to produce anything tasty so I threw in buttermilk and an extra egg. I think the additions did the trick – they were the perfect cakey texture of a brownie with the tastes of a cookie. Amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups flour;
• 1 tsp baking powder;
• ½ tsp baking soda;
• ½ tsp salt;
• ½ cup sugar;
• 2/3 cup brown sugar;
• ¼ cup butter, softened;
• 1½ tsp maple flavoring;
• 2 eggs;
• 1/3 cup buttermilk;
• ½ cup chopped pecans;
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips;
• ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted with 1 tbsp butter.

Recipe Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
3. Beat both sugars and butter in a large bowl at medium speed for 2 minutes or until well combined. Add maple flavoring, eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, stirring until well incorporated. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
4. Spread evenly in 9 inch pyrex or cake pan. Note: the mixture will seem VERY thick and sticky! Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is crispy and golden. While still hot drizzle with melted chocolate chip mixture. Allow to cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!