Chewy, Chunky Blondies

I just bought a new cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It has a great mix of different baked goods recipes that sound amazing. The best part about it, for unexperienced bakers, is she tells you specifically how to do each step. I like to know how long to mix each ingredient. I've been spending the last week going through all 500 pages and flagging all the recipes I want to make. Because I'm a complete amateur baker, I decided to start with something simple. BLONDIES! I figured I couldn't mess these up.

But just as I was getting ready to place the pan in the oven, I noticed the vanilla on the counter that I forgot to put in. oops. sigh. Only I could mess up blondies.

Luckily, they were still amazing without the vanilla!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Source- Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperture

1 1/2 cups (packed) brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

Add-ins from original recipe:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath toffee bits

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

My add-ins:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions-

1. Center a rack and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and place on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for one minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce mixing speed to low and add the dry ingredients until they disappear into the batter.

4. Using a rubber spatula, stir in add-ins. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even out.

5. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. They should pull away from the sides of the pan and the top should be a honey-brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies right side up to room temp.

Makes approx 32 bars.