Blondies

Hey y'all! Like the alliteration in the title? I'm happy to have started my blog and summer off by baking one of my favorites: blondies. I didn't really have a specific recipe in mind when I started making them, but I'm really happy with how they turned out! They're just the right amount of chewy and crispy!

Although it's already July, I count this as the beginning of my summer. For the first three weeks of June, I'm at sleepaway camp. This summer was my last year as a camper so I really made sure to appreciate my friends, the camp traditions, and the nature surrounding me. I loved it there- but I really missed baking at home. Maybe I'll reminisce on camp by making a s'mores-themed treat sometime soon.

I've made a few treats since I've been back in the past week, but I couldn't make much considering I was fresh out of brown sugar and my vanilla extract was straight-up vodka (Not even lying- I opened up a new bottle and it was practically clear with no vanilla flavor. Apparently there's a vanilla extract shortage, so I'll just chalk it up to that). Nonetheless, I was overjoyed to have the ingredients to make these blondies today. They were super delish!

I decided to make these dairy-free with some optional substitutes which I will clarify. Obviously, you can use real butter but I have found that plant butter works just as well and softens much faster. What I like about blondies is that they're so customizable. You can add chocolate chips, espresso powder, or even fruit!

Thanks for tuning in to my first blog post and expect many more posts in the future! I'm gonna go grab another one of these blondies and watch Stranger Things Vol. 2!

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Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. (1 Stick) Butter*

• 2 tbs. White Sugar*

• 1 c. Brown Sugar

• 1 Egg

• 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

• 1/2 c. Almond Flour*

• 3/4 c. All Purpose Flour*

• 1/2 tsp. Salt

• 1 tsp Baking Soda

• 1 c. Chocolate Chips (This is just one type of inclusion! I would have used butterscotch chips if I had them. You can really use anything you want like Oreos, graham crackers, marshmallows, anything! Also, I really probably used more than a cup of chocolate chips. No chocolate is too much chocolate in my book. I alternated between using Lily's Milk Chocolate Chips and the standard semi sweet kind.)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line or grease an 8 x 8 pan.

2. Combine butter and sugars. Cream using a whisk or electric mixer until a light and fluffy consistency is achieved.

3. Add in egg and combine fully. After that, add in vanilla extract and mix.

4. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients- almond flour, all purpose flour, baking soda, salt.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine thoroughly.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips.

7. Pour the mixture into the lined/greased pan.

8. Bake for 23-27 minutes. (25 minutes worked for me :) )

*The ingredients marked with this star are those that can be substituted for another.

I used plant butter to replace dairy butter and replaced the white sugar with stevia. If you don't have almond flour, you can replace it with all purpose flour and vice-versa. It's totally up to you!