Chocolate Chip, Coconut Blondies.

It’s 85 degrees here in Atlanta today. Which means the buttermilk biscuits that I baked, while still quite fluffy and delicious, were flat because the shortening basically melted into the flour. Little piece of advice when making pastry: have a cold ass kitchen. Or at least turn the A/C on, duhhh. What a bummer.

But we are making up for my (sort-of) biscuit fail with goeey, chocolate chippy (?), coconut-y brown butter blondies. I don’t know about y’all but I’m beginning to enjoy blondies a liiiiiitle more than the traditional fudge brownie, which kind of have a way of making me feel a little heavy. These blondies, while rich, don’t have that same effect.

I LOVE the combination of brown butter, chocolate chips, and sweetened coconut flakes in this treat. They make for an ultra-soft, ultra-tasty, ULTRA-GOOEY blondie. Plus, there’s chocolate chip in EVERY.BITE. Not like a disappointing cookie where there’s, like, one awkward chocolate chip. That’s the worst.

This blondie variation is adapted from the recipe by Adam and Joanne Gallagher at the Inspired Taste blog. I’ll provide a link in the notes. Bring these blondies to parties (whenever it’s okay to have parties again). Bake them for your best friend. Bake them for your crush…or not, because your crush miiiight not like you back and you might feel like a total idiot afterwards. Not that that’s happened to me. I’m speaking from a friend’s experience…okay?

The point is: make.these.blondies. They’re EASY. They’re RICH. They’re BUTTERY. They’re CARAMEL-Y. Must I go on?

What Makes Our Blondies AH-MAZ-ING?

• Unsalted, browned butter: Brown butter has AMAZING flavor-enhancing abilities. It’s becoming a favorite of mine to use in recipes like these. It’s also very simple to make; it just requires your attention. Here’s how to make brown butter: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-brown-butter/.
• Dark brown sugar: Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light brown sugar, so it will yield a richer taste. Light brown sugar can still be used; it will be slightly less rich but should still be pretty awesome.
• An extra egg yolk: I firmly believe that egg yolks are the unsung heroes of baking. They make our goods moister and richer. Don’t skip the extra egg yolk in this blondie recipe.
• A super, super, duper small amount of molasses: For a liiiiiiiitleeee extra moisture and sweetness. Seriously, we’re only using about an 1/8 teaspoon of molasses here. You can even omit this ingredient if you don’t have it on hand. The blondies won’t suffer without it.
• Mix-ins: We’re adding sweetened coconut flakes, semi sweet chocolate chips, AND dark chocolate chips. If you are a coconut hater (how can you be though?), omit the coconut flakes.

Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen? Let’s get blondie-making!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted, browned butter, cooled.
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed.
• 1/8 teaspoon molasses.
• 1 large egg, room temperature.
• 1 egg yolk, room temperature.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature.
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt.
• 1 cup (125 grams) all purpose flour.
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes.
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips.
• a handful of dark chocolate chips.
• coarse sea salt or coarse kosher salt, for topping.

Directions

1. We’ll start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F and greasing 8 by 8 inch baking pan with butter, then lining it with parchment paper. There should be overhang on both sides. Using parchment paper is the easiest way to remove the blondies from the pan.
2. Next, we’ll use a spatula to stir cooled brown butter and packed brown sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. This mixture will be sort of like a paste and will be very dark in color.
3. At this point, we’ll add our egg, egg yolk, vanilla, milk, and our very tiny amount of molasses. Stir forcefully until the mixture is well combined with no streaks.
4. Now, let’s add our flour. First, we’ll stir it in gently until it is fully incorporated with the liquid mixture. Then, we’ll get a SERIOUS arm workout by beating the batter vigorously. Give it around 40-50 strokes with your spatula. You’ll know you’ve beaten vigorously enough when the batter is pulling away from the bowl. This might be the only time you’re advised to beat a dessert batter so hard. The blondie batter will have a caramel brown color and be quite thick (like a thick pancake batter).
5. If your arm hasn’t completely fallen off, gently fold in the chocolate chips and coconut flakes.
6. Let’s pour our batter into the prepared baking pan. Use a spatula to smooth the top and ensure that the batter is evenly distributed in the pan. Sprinkle a handful of dark chocolate chips and a little extra coconut flakes over the top.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes. The blondies are finished when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out MOSTLY clean. If a few small crumbs are sticking to the toothpick, that’s fine.
8. Remove from the oven and let rest on a cooling rack for about 45 minutes before slicing into squares and serving.
9. Enjoy!

Notes & Resources

• Adapted from the Inspired Taste blog: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/23801/no-fail-blondies-recipe/