Pumpkin and Spice

My hair has, at various points, been about every color known to Lady Clairol- red, auburn, strawberry blonde, light brown, dark brown, purple, black, and even platinum blonde. You'd think I'd be able to answer with some authority the age old question, "Do blondes have more fun?" Well, I don't know about that... but I do know that you'll have fun (blonde or not) baking and eating these blondies!

As you probably know, blondies are moist, butterscotch-flavored, cake-like bar cookies. As yummy as blondies are, they still tend to play second fiddle to their ooey-gooey chocolate cousin, the brownie. No more! My blondies are a cross between a traditional blondie and a chocolate chip cookie. Moist blondie, flavored with vanilla and plenty of dark brown sugar, and jam-packed with every sort of chocolate imaginable- dark, milk, white and semi-sweet! To keep the sweetness from being too overwhelming, I use the largest proportion of the dark chocolates, and add a "secret" ingredient- coarse sea salt. Since the salt is a little chunky, it doesn't fully dissolve into the batter, so as you eat the blondies, you occasionally get a little pop of salt! I don't know about you, but I love the contrast of a little salt to the sweetness of chocolate.

In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I like these better than brownies! The combo of the flavors of the brown sugar, the melty chocolate chips, the little bursts of salt... it's unbeatable. The only way it gets any better is to eat it warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Another bonus is that it's super easy to throw together- it's your basic creaming method (just like a cookie), then you just spread it into a buttered pan. No scooping, no rotating cookie sheets, no fuss. The hardest part is waiting for it to bake and cool before eating it!

Chocolate Chip Blondies
makes one 9x13 pan of blondies

• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2c packed dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/2t baking powder
• 1t coarse sea salt (or coarse kosher salt)
• 1c dark chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips)
• 1c semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2c milk chocolate chips
• 1/2c white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9x13 dish (I like glass best).
In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.
In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. With a wire whisk, whisk in the salt (it probably won't fit through the holes in your sifter.)
Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined. By hand, fold in the chocolate chips.
Spread mixture into the prepared dish. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the top is glossy and and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. (Don't overbake- it will continue to bake a bit after you take it out.)
Allow to (mostly) cool, then cut into squares and enjoy!