Walnut Blondies

 

Let me just start by saying that I love these Walnut and White Chocolate Blondies!!

I was just going to make some simple blondies. You know, the simplest of simple bars. Kind of a chocolate chip cookie-flavored brownie. I started with this recipe at Smitten Kitchen, and, intrigued by the browned butter recommendation in that recipe, started doing some fiddling and tweaking.

What I ended up with was a wonderfully nutty bar with an almost gooey (but not quite), moist chewiness, and a delightfully sweet, somehow caramel-y flavor. I made that browned butter, swapped some of it out for walnut oil, and exchanged half of the flour for whole wheat pastry flour. I also stirred in some walnuts, then thought, do these need some kind of chocolate? Yes, I answered. White chocolate chips. Why not?

The resulting bar cookies really made me happy. The flavor of the brown butter and walnut oil were fabulous together, and the extra nuttiness of the whole wheat flour was a great compliment to those unctuous fats. The crunchy walnuts were right at home, and the vanilla-sweet white chocolate got gently caramelized during baking, contributing to the complex flavor. The interplay of all these wonderful ingredients was even more delicious than I expected!

These chewy bars can certainly be varied to meet your personal tastes or even just satisfy your need to try as many versions of the classic blondie as possible. The method is, of course, super easy, so you can make blondies over and over as needed to satisfy all your blondie lust. That’s a thing, right? Or is it just me?

Walnut and White Chocolate Blondies

Based on a recipe at Smitten Kitchen

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup walnut oil

1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted if desired

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray, or grease it as desired.

2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Continue to cook the butter until it stops bubbling and turns golden brown. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

3. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the walnut oil, brown sugar, and egg until smooth. Whisk in the browned butter until completely combined. Whisk in the vanilla extract.

4. In a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk or sift together.

5. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the walnuts and white chocolate chips.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and smooth it out evenly. Bake at 350 F for 25-35 minutes, or until set and glossy on top and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes about 16 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Peanut Butter Butterfinger Blondies,  Graham Cracker Almond Bars, Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Bars, Whole Wheat Butterscotch Pecan Bars,