Stuffed Blondies

I've said it before and now I'll say it again.  I'm not a chocolate lover.  For me chocolate is an garnish to be enjoyed with other flavours and not to be eaten alone (unless I'm forced).  The Blondie or Butterscotch Brownie is, for me, what the Brownie is to the chocolate lover.  All that buttery, brown sugary flavour wrapped up in a moist and chewy square is my idea of cookie bliss.  Blondies are just as good served "naked" as they are dressed up with a brown sugar or chocolate frosting.  I'll eat them any way they are served. 

The other day I was thinking about what I'd bake or cook next for this blog and Blondies came to mind.  But not just any Blondie--a Stuffed Blondie.  I guess I've been running across those chocolate cookie stuffed brownies that are everywhere on the Internet and, like a dream that relives your day in a mixed-up way, I received instructions from my brain to stuff a Blondie.  But the thought of ruining the perfect square with an Oreo-like cookie didn't appeal to my taste buds. (You may disagree with me on that one, but it's my cookie in my mouth.)  Then from the inner-most regions of the brain I recalled images and the memory of a chocolate covered graham cookie and the reality of stuffing a Blondie was confirmed.  

Of course, you don't have to stuff a Blondie any more than you have to stuff a Brownie.  They are good just as they are, with either a little frosting or plain.  Some recipes include chocolate or butterscotch chips and nuts in the batter as well, but for stuffing them I thought the plain batter was best.  


Stuffed Blondies
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

12-16 chocolate covered graham cookie

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and line with parchment paper an 8-inch square pan.  Leave at least two opposite ends of the paper to overhang.  These will provided "handles" to help remove the cooled baked Blondies.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together over medium heat.  Let cool a few minutes and add egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Mix dry ingredients together and mix with the brown sugar mixture. 

Place half the batter in the prepared 8-inch pan.  Place the cookies over the batter and cover with the remaining batter.  You may have to spoon it over and pat it down with a spoon or your hand. 

Bake 25 minutes.  Let cool and frost with chocolate icing.  Cut into 12-16 squares or bars.


Chocolate Frosting
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons soft butter
2 or 3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla

Sift the icing sugar, cocoa and salt together.  In a small bowl, cream the butter with the icing sugar and cocoa adding enough milk to make a spreadable icing.  Add the vanilla.   Spread over the cooled Blondies. 

Blondies come together quickly. Using a medium-sized pot to melt the sugar and butter together gives you plenty of room to mix in the remaining ingredients.

Once the Blondie batter is mixed place half in a greased and parchment lined pan.  Arrange the cookies over the batter and then cover with remaining batter.  Chocolate covered graham cookies do come in different sizes and shapes.  These are rectangular but you can also buy them in smaller squares.

The Blondies bake beautifully with a shiny top crust.  

A side view of the cut Blondies. 

Cover the Blondies with a Chocolate Frosting.  Make sure you sift the icing sugar and cocoa together as cocoa is notorious for lumps that won't dissolve when mixing. 

Lining the pan with parchment paper ensures easy removal of the cooled Blondies and frosting is so much easier when done outside the pan.  The Blondies can be cut to any size you prefer. 

Chewy and crunchy all at the same time.