Chocolate Chip Blondies

Robert sent this recipe for blondies along with the previous post's banana bread recipe, and I kind of wish that you could e-mail baked goods, because as I read his email, and looked at the photos he sent along with my cravings grew exponentially. And now, for your enjoyment:

'Yeah... Not sure why, but butterscotch-type things sound good to me in the fall. And I have no idea why I've been in a muffin shaped mood this week either. Here is a Williams-Sonoma recipe, with a few comments and tweaks (and photos) by me.'

-Robert

Blondies with Easter Chocolate Chips
original recipe

A cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie, blondes and thought to have evolved from butterscotch confections and gingerbread. One of the first known recipes for blondes appeared in an 1896 cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I use margarine)
• 1 3/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar (light brown sugar also works, but the flavor is richer with dark brown)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 salt
• 12 oz Easter chocolate chips* (I doubt these even exist anymore - I use 2 cups of "normal" semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. (Alternately, this recipe will make about 18 muffins).
2. In a food processor, combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minute, stopping to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, and pulse for 2 seconds after each addition.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and slat in directly onto the butter mixture and pulse 10 times, 2 seconds per pulse.
5. Transfer the batter to a bowl and fold int eh chocolate chips.
**I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer for this recipe. I cream the butter, sugar and vanilla at high speed, add the eggs all at once, and then use the "Stir" setting to mix in the dry ingredients. Yes, this includes the chocolate chips.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until the blondes are golden brown and the edges are firm to the touch, 30-35 minutes. If making muffins, these will take 20-25 minutes.
7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour, and then cut into bars. Makes about 20 blondies.
Note: the blondies can be baked in two 9 inch square pans as well. Bake these for 20-25 minutes.

Erna Dangel's Banana Bread

Drumroll please... we have recipes from Robert to share!

Robert's baking is... wait for it... Legendary. The man is ridiculously talented with dairy fat and vanilla, and also the first person ever to satisfactorily explain to this scientist why one might choose to use butter vs. lard vs. shortening in a given baked goods recipe. I felt like it should have been taped as an episode of "Good Eats" or something.

Robert also has a great blog you should mosey on over and explore, preferably with something scrumptious in hand. Topics vary wildly, from the weather (always a favorite midwestern topic), to current events, to food, and my favorite label "better than a frozen fish fight". You can find out what's currently on Robert's mind at Robert's Random Writings or http://robertsrandomwritings.blogspot.com. It's also conveniently located in the blog list over here ---> on the right hand side of this page. Did I give you enough navigation options?

And now, what you all have been waiting for since you saw the title of this post, the recipe for one Erna Dangel's Banana Bread. But who is Erna Dangel? According to Robert, she is a woman from his home town. He says "My mom got this recipe from Erna Dangel many many years ago, but her name is still attached to it in my personal cookbook." And so, Erna Dangel's Banana Bread it remains.

Also, don't get grossed out by the idea of really black bananas, really, the blacker they are for this the better. You want them to be extra soft, because they count as part of the liquid ingredients for this recipe (grossed out yet are ya?)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 2 eggs
• 3 bananas (the blacker, the better) *I know what you're thinking, Robert's bananas don't look very black, do they? In fact, they look good enough to eat plain! ;-)
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• cinnamon (and/or other spices) to taste

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. prepare 2 8"x3" loaf pans by rubbing the side with the margarine wrappers and then coating them with a fine dusting of flour. (Or, since this is the 21st century, use a good non-stick baking spray.) If making muffins, this recipe makes about 2 dozen, so prepare pans accordingly.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar, margarine, eggs and bananas.
4. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda. (If you are using an electric mixer, use the lowest setting, stopping as soon as the ingredients are incorporated. The batter will probably be a little lumpy.)

5. Add cinnamon, tasting it as you add until you like the taste - remember that come of the flavor will "bake out" so add a little bit extra. I usually use about 2 tsp of cinnamon.
6. Bake at 350F until the top is brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (For loaves, I would check in about 30 minutes, but they may take as much as 50 minutes. Muffins I start checking at 20 minutes and they are usually done around 23-25 minutes.)

7. Let cool on a rack until the bottoms of the pans are only slightly warm to the touch.
8. If making loaves, cut around the edge of the pans with a knife and then flip the loaves out onto the rack.