Pecan blondies

You've heard of brownies, right? Not the little girls who go on to become girl guides, but the chocolate tea time treats. Well, blondies are just brownies made with white chocolate. Try these for a tasty alternative.

Oven temperature
180C

Ingredients
125g butter
200g white chocolate or 100g white chocolate and 100g (white or other) choc chips
2 eggs
125ml sugar
2.5ml vanilla extract (or cardamom extract if you happen to have it)
250g cake/plain flour
Pinch salt (even I use a generous pinch, and you know I have a light hand when it comes to salt)
50g pecan (or other) nuts, chopped

Method

• Chop the slab chocolate into smallish pieces. If you're using chips, these obviously don't need chopping.



I always cool things upside down

• Line a square cake tin with baking parchment. If you find it tricky to line the sides, then just line the bottom, but grease the sides well.
• Use a double boiler or, if you don't have (and I don't), a Pyrex dish over a saucepan. Bring water to the boil in the bottom half and melt 100g of the chocolate in the top, stirring frequently.
• Add the butter and stir until it has completely melted and blended with the chocolate.
• Removed from heat and set aside for now.
• Cream together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla.
• Beat the chocolate mixture in to the egg mixture.
• Sift in the flour and salt and beat well.
• Stir in the nuts and remaining chocolate (or choc chips).
• Pour into the cake tin, smooth over with a spatula and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and leave to stand for about 20 minutes.
• Cut into squares in the pan, and remove carefully with an egg lifter (aka 'fish slice' in the UK) to place on a cooling rack.
• Wait until they have completely cooled and, if you have any left (I didn't!), you can pop them into an airtight container.

Notes

• You could choose to top them with icing or (even better) with fudge icing as chocolate fudge brownies, but they are very sweet already, so try them as is, first.
• Try a few variations: 100g white chocolate with 100g plain (dark) chocolate chips, for example.
• Try using different nuts. I reckon pistachios would be the business!