Butterscotch Blondies
Ingredients (for 20cm x 20cm tin (16 pieces)
160g unsalted butter
340g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 x 59g extra large eggs
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp salt
50g roughly chopped pecans
80g white chocolate buttons (or roughly chop if block)
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. Line 20cm x 20cm square cake tin with non-stick baking paper. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat.
Add brown sugar and vanilla and stir well to combine. Cool for a couple of minutes. Add eggs and using a wooden spoon, beat briskly into warm butter mixture, until just smooth.
Add flour, baking powder, salt roughly chopped pecans and chocolate into saucepan. Stir to combine and make a stiff batter. Scrape mixture into prepared tin and evenly into tin.
Bake for 25 minutes for fudgy result, 30 minutes for cake-like result.
Remove from oven. Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from tin. Cut blondies into desired size pieces.
Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
Cook’s notes
These are so quick to make at the last minute with minimum equipment used plus all ingredients are staple items from pantry and fridge.
Serve for morning or afternoon tea cut into little squares. As a dessert, using a circular cutter, stamp out 6cm rounds and serve blondies warm with vanilla custard or ice cream.
Use walnuts instead of pecans or omit nuts altogether.
Lindt white chocolate was used. Beware of imitation white chocolate with palm oil as an ingredient! Add dark chocolate if preferred.
Sprinkle frozen raspberries over surface of blondies before baking for a different fruity version.
Baked blondies freeze well. Wrap individual pieces in foil to pop into lunchboxes and they will be defrosted by lunchtime.
Ginger Kisses
Ingredients (for 24 biscuits):
200g unsalted butter at room temperature
200g soft light brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 x 59g extra large egg
300g plain flour
2tsp ground ginger
1½ tsp baking powder
Filling
100g unsalted butter at room temperature
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ginger marmalade
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. To make biscuits, place butter, sugar and golden syrup in electric mixer bowl and beat for few minutes, until light and pale in colour.
Beat egg into butter mixture for two minutes to combine well. Add flour, ginger and baking powder into mixture in bowl mixing slowly to form batter.
Measure biscuit batter using a teaspoon to make about 50 biscuits. Scrape rounded teaspoon portions on to non-stick paper lined baking tray, allowing room in between for biscuits to spread slightly.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until biscuits have spread out, are holding their shape and are tinged golden around the edges. Cool on wire rack before filling.
For filling, place butter, icing sugar, vanilla and ginger marmalade in bowl of food processor and whiz for a minute or so, until smooth and pale in colour.
Pipe icing onto flat side of half quantity of biscuits with #11 star nozzle. Sandwich two biscuits together with icing in middle and serve.
Cook’s notes:
If wanting to use the best soft light brown sugar, buy the Billingtons brand. Light muscovado sugar has the molasses left in and has a more complex flavour than supermarket brands which are often overly processed, it is a genuine natural, soft, light brown sugar.
Always check spices are fresh. If they have been stored for too long they will have lost their aroma and most of their flavour!
QLD Buderim brand Ginger Marmalade is available in all supermarkets.
Make about 12 larger biscuits using same quantity of ingredients but using a #60 mini ice cream scoop to measure out portions, i.e. 24 biscuits sandwiched together.
Biscuits are best stored, covered in fridge if weather is warm for up to a week; otherwise if cool, in the pantry for four to five days.