To the best of my knowledge, blondies are just brownies without the chocolate. So wouldn’t that make them cookie bars, especially if you add chocolate chips? I vote yes. There’s nothing wrong with a nice dense cookie square. And like most things in life, these are much improved with brown butter! Always a good life choice. This week I had some little helpers, one of whose fingers you can see going for the goods. Needless to say I had lots of help mostly eating these blondies (which passed with flying colors). Brown Butter Blondies Adapted from Phyllis Grant Makes 12 blondies Ingredients 1 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips Melt the butter on the stove in a light colored saucepan. Keep stirring until the spitting has stopped and the little bits floating about go brown. Transfer the now brown butter to a bowl and let cool completely. Once the brown butter has cooled, move it to a large mixing bowl and combine with the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and eggs until well incorporated. Add half the flour and the salt, mixing until just combined. To avoid over mixing, add the chocolate chips next. Lastly mix in the rest of the flour. Put the batter into an 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and smooth out with a wooden spoon or spatula. Place in the oven at 350° F for 30-35 minutes, or until there’s no jiggling when you move the pan die to side. The time it’s in should vary depending on your preference of done-ness. I went with 40 minutes and it was done, but not burnt. Just remember to let it cool completely! Yes, this may take over an hour!

Confession: I didn’t wait an hour to cut out the blondies. But I think it made it easier to pull them apart later. They’ll get a lot harder once they’ve cooled. If after a couple of days they’re too hard, throw one in the microwave for 30 seconds at half power. Even better with ice cream!

Don’t worry, they’re worth the wait.