Ever make Blondies?

I have that problem with brownies, they always require at least 15 minutes more than the recipe/box mix says…

Do you have a separate oven thermometer to check what your oven temp actually is inside? A lot of baking issues come down to the oven isn’t running at the right temp, either too hot and stuff burns or not hot enough and it takes way longer for stuff to get done. It’s a common enough issue that it could be the same problem even with different ovens. I was having issues with one of my double ovens and sure enough, once I put an oven thermometer inside I realized the oven runs about 15-20° hotter than what it’s set at. After I knew that, I could adjust accordingly. There is supposedly a way to recalibrate my oven but from the directions it seemed more complicated than I wanted to take on, when I can just intentionally set the oven 15° lower at the outset and that works too.

ETA: One other thing to look at is the pan you’re baking it in. If you’re using a smaller pan (8”x8) and the dough is thicker in it, it will take longer to bake than if it’s a bigger pan (say 7”x11”) and the dough is thinner. My personal favorite pan to bake brownies in is 7”x11” because I just love how quickly and evenly they bake in it. Also, things baked in a shiny silver colored pan will cook slower than the same thing baked in a dark colored pan. Weird but true. Also the thickness of the pan itself can affect bake times too.

These are chocolate chunk blondies, but it’s Ina Garten’s recipe, so it’s a good one.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-chunk-blondies-recipe-1925477

I reduced the amount of chocolate-I just eyeballed it, and I used chocolate chips.



There is another one that I like; lemme see if I can find it.


ETA: I *think* that this is the one that I like best, from Cook’s Illustrated.

food52.com/recipes/28573-cook-s-illustrated-s-blondies?clickref=1101lyyq5ioN&app_clickref=1101lyyq5ioN&utm_source=partnerize&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=skimlinks_phg

Oh, and as someone mentioned, an oven thermometer really can make a difference.

Would love the recipe. Your use of a mini muffin pan is genius.

Check back tomorrow. I’ll type it in in the morning.

YES RECIPE PLEASE!!!

Ina Garten is the most precise baker I know of and I would imagine her recipe, at this link, would work. www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-chunk-blondies-recipe-1925477

All if what she said. The oven, the pan, the ingredients all true.

Brownies & blondies always seemed better in the rectangle pan rather than square - however, with mixes, some of the box mixes have shrinkflated so the proportions now work in the square pan. 😕🤣 and muffins make 5 rather than 6. It’s ridiculous.

But definitely play around with crazy4scraps advice she nailed the variables that are giving you trouble

How I make my mini blondies:

The Joy of Cooking, 1964 edition, p653
(original recipe)

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES
Makes about 16 thin 2-1/4” squares

An all-time favorite, easily made. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt in a saucepan: 1/4 cup butter
Stir into it until dissolved: 1 cup brown sugar
Cool these ingredients slightly. Beat in well: 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla
Sift, then measure: 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Resift it with: 1 tsp double-acting baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt
Stir these ingredients into the butter mixture.
Add: 1/2-1 cup finely chopped nuts or 3/4 cup grated coconut
Chopped dates and figs may be substituted entirely or in part. Use a little of the flour over them. Pour the batter into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Cut into bars when cool.



LUCYG’S BLONDIES
(adapted from butterscotch brownies recipe, above)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the wells of one or more mini muffin pans. I use real butter, not spray. Makes around 36+ mini blondies, but it really depends on the size of your mini muffin pans. They vary. I double the recipe for a large tea party.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large glass bowl in the microwave. Mix in the remaining ingredients by hand. 1 cup brown sugar, then allow to cool slightly. Beat in 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla well. Stir together 1/2 cup AP flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt, then stir into the butter mixture.

I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t add mini chocolate chips to the recipe.

Place 1 tsp of batter into each mini muffin well. Top each with 1 whole (or broken, if you prefer) pecan. I bake for 10 minutes, but you may need to experiment to find the exact right baking time (and amount of batter). The batter rises up and completely covers the pecan while it bakes, so it’s like a little surprise inside when they take a bite. But you could leave this out if you don’t want to add nuts.

Take out of the oven and use a thin, sharp knife around the edges of each blondie to loosen it from the sides. Let stand a few minutes, then use a dinner knife to carefully pop out each blondie. Eat a few warm, of course, but allow most to cool before serving or storing.

Thank you. I have good luck using a plastic knife to loosen the edges. That way, I'm not damaging my metal baking tin.

You could also cut strips of parchment and put them across the bottom and sides of each well after greasing the pans and use the parchment strips as a sling to help pop them out. I do that with my pecan tassies and while it seems like a hassle on the front end, I thank myself later because they’re SO much easier to get out of the pans.