Honey Blondies
This version of beloved blondie bars cuts the typical sugar grams by about half to 13 grams per square. It was inspired by the America’s Test Kitchen 2016 book “Naturally Sweet.” For further sugar reduction, bittersweet chocolate chips were used. Feel free to toast the pecans before mixing if you have the time. Makes 16 bars
1 1 ⁄4 cups flour (see note) 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, browned and cooled (see note)
6 tablespoons honey (see note) 1 large egg plus 2 large yolks 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch (or 11-by-7-inch) baking pan.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk together browned butter, honey, egg, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake in preheated oven 23 to 25 minutes, until slightly browned on the edges. Do not overbake. Cool in pan 20 minutes before cutting.
Notes: One-fourth of the all-purpose flour can be replaced with whole-wheat flour. Butter can be melted, not browned, if short on time. Both regular and raw honey work fine.