Baking Adventure #25

Well hello there! Fancy meeting you here.

We are about half way through the summer, and it has been the busiest, yet one of the best! Last week was my birthday/July 4th weekend, and I opted to make two of my grandma's Strawberry Pies instead of one and a blueberry tart.

It's funny, since I have had this blog and everyone knows I love to bake for others, this year on my birthday, no one asked what I did or what I got for my birthday. Instead, the first and pretty much only question was "Did someone bake YOU a cake?" Well folks, I must report that no one baked me a cake. In fact, while I had MANY birthday desserts (and by many, I mean cheesecake, creme brulee, berry filled churros, ice cream, dark chocolate cake... okay I'm done incriminating my diet), I did NOT once have a slice of birthday cake. It's probably for the best though. Tony Horton, Mr. p90x, would not have been supportive of my birthday dessert binge. (Yes, you're reading this right. I'm currently on Day 43 of p90x. Began on Memorial Day.)

Anyways, back to this week's baking adventure! Not sure why I went off on that tangent...

FOCUS ASHLEY FOCUS!

This week's baking adventure is a baked good that I am not so much a fan of typically. In fact, when I first tasted this particular recipe for it, the person allowing me to try it didn't even know what it was called; thus, allowing for no preconceived judgements to be had, so without further ado...

BLONDIES (or Blonde Brownies) w/Old Timey Caramel Frosting

A little background on Blondies: Blondies were actually developed before Brownies.

Ok, that's it. There's your background. You're welcome.

This recipe was given to me by a friend's mom who tweaked it to make it her own by adding in butterscotch chips and adding a caramel frosting. SWEET doesn't even begin to encompass the final result, so if you're into things with less sugar, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME but if you're into things that melt in your mouth, ignore the previous warning and give it a try!

First things first: P to the R to the E to the P! [or PREP for those of you who aren't chipper like me in the morning]

The first step in the Blondie making part of the recipe is to melt the butter and brown sugar until smooth.

While the butter and brown sugar are melting, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and roughly chop up the pecans.

I halved this recipe, so this is about half a cup. [Make sure to keep stirring the sugar and butter so that it dissolves together well and doesn't burn. If you're NOT a multi-tasker, it's more than okay to chop up the nuts before beginning this step. I just prefer to live my baking life on the wild side.]

After the butter/sugar mixture becomes smooth, remove it from the heat and let cool for about 3-5 minutes while continuing to stir. Next, it's time to add the eggs one at a time... but before you do, did you let the buttery sugar cool long enough? Not sure? Well check and see! Otherwise when adding the eggs, you could be making some sweet scrambled eggs instead!

After adding the eggs, add in the flour mixture making sure to incorporate about 1/3 at a time until everything is fully combined and smooth and dreamy.

After smooth and dreaminess is obtained, stir in the pecans, vanilla extract, AND bbb-bbb-baaaaa [that was my attempt at making a trumpet sound] the butterscotch chips.

Once combined, pour the batter into a greased pan and bake in the oven at 350 for about 25-28 minutes.

After the blondies have baked, allow them to sit out to cool and go to town on making the frosting!

Allow me to interrupt this post for a bit, have I told you lately how much I love frosting? I love it so much in fact that I could eat it with a spoon and nix the cake that typically comes with it altogether, so here's my ode to Frosting (as sung to the tune of "We Love you Conrad" from Bye Bye Birdie):

"I love you frosting,

Oh yes I do.

I love you frosting,

You know it's true.

When you're not near me,

I'm blue.

Oh Frosting, I LOVE YOU!"

Ok, where was I? Oh yes, making the frosting...

Before beginning, make sure to clean out the saucepan you used to make the batter (unlike when making Texas Sheet Cake) or get a new saucepan. Melt more butter and sugar together and allow to boil for a few minutes while stirring occasionally.

Let cool slightly and add powdered sugar and milk.

Then stir to combine and create the most luscious caramel frosting you will set your eyes on.

Pour said luscious caramel frosting over the top of the cooled Blondies and allow to cool completely before cutting into. This will take a couple of hours, so if you absolutely have no self control and can't wait, grab a spoon and dig in! (In fact, I highly recommend this method of consumption.)

Now, you would think that would be the end of this blog post right? RIGHT. Well, I am here to tell you otherwise. Before we go, I should tell you a story and it goes a little something like this:

Once upon a time... There was a pint-sized princess. This princess loved to make sweet, scrumptious things and share with everyone in the land. One day, the princess decided to make a dessert named after her golden locks. This dessert was called Blondies. Everything went smashingly when preparing, making and cooking the Blondies until... duh duh duh... it was time to clean up after sitting the Blondies on the castle counter to cool... Something I forgot to mention is that this princess is quite a clumsy one... and while attempting to clean up the kitchen so that Queen Mom wouldn't banish her for a making a mess, the princess accidentally knocked the cover on the stove and the Blondies pan began to slide to its death on the floor. ALAS, the princess immediately grabbed the pan and all was saved and they lived happily ever after.

THE END

[Please reference the picture below for evidence regarding the heroic efforts of the princess of our story to save the Blondies.]

Luckily! These Blondies were cut into squares when cooled and no one knew any different!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! On a personal note, it's going to be a strenuous one for my family. Would those of you out there please keep my family, in particular my sister, in your prayers over the course of the next week? Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Until next time!

P.S. If you're interested in this recipe, feel free to leave a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you!