If you have never had a blondie, you are missing out. They are soft and chewy, like a brownie, but have the same flavor as a classic chocolate chip cookie. I don’t know anyone who can turn down a good chocolate chip cookie. Best of all, these are super easy to make.
Set your oven to 350 degrees…
Check.
Make sure your baby is napping…
Check.
Now for the fun. Carefully melt margarine and shortening. I used the microwave but you can also do this in a small pot on the stove.
Mix up the melted margarine and shortening with one pound aka one box of brown sugar.
I had a 2 pound bag of brown sugar so I pulled out my handy dandy kitchen scale to get the precise measurement.
Then mix in the eggs and corn syrup (I removed this from my recipe, I didn’t like how it reacted). Once that is mixed in, add in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. Vanilla extract and butter flavoring are the last to join the party.
Mix well, you don’t want any lumps. For some reason when I was making these I decided not to use my stand mixer. I was too lazy to take it out and figured it wouldn’t be such a big deal to mix by hand. Huge mistake! This batter is pretty thick; I highly recommend using an electric mixer.
Next line a half sheet pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spread the batter as evenly as you can.
Once the batter is spread out, sprinkle on the whole bag of chocolate chips and gently press them in. Then the pan goes into the oven for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.
Yummmmmm.
I used a round cutter to cut the blondies out into perfect circles.
This is originally my moms recipe but I tweaked it a bit. Here’s my version:
- ½ cup shortening
- ½ cup margarine
- 1 pound (1 box) light brown sugar
- 3 Tbs. hot water
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. butter flavor (optional)
- 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a half sheet pan or jelly roll pan (13x18 inch) with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan melt the shortening, margarine, and sugar.
- Add in the water and stir to combine. Allow to cool.
- Pour the cooled mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Add in the eggs and mix to combine.
- Then add in the dry ingredients and flavorings.
- Spread the batter evenly in the parchment lined pan.
- Sprinkle the chips on top and gently press them into the batter.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until light brown. Do not bake too long or the blondies will be dry.
- Cool and cut into squares.
I couldn’t get him to smile for me in this pose, but I wanted you to see the whole costume. Here’s the side view.
The crown and mask are made of gumpaste. I like using gumpaste because it dries quickly and super hard.
I used a template to cut out the crown shape and then I used a quilting tool to create this look. Once it was dry I airbrushed it in shiny gold.
I used another template to cut out the mask. Once it was dry, I attached a stick using royal icing. Once everything was dry, I airbrushed it a shiny green and then piped on some royal icing that I colored deep purple.
I colored some fondant brown for the cookie dough and filled the cookie with red and purple piping gel. Once they were all pinched together, I airbrushed the corners brown to get that freshly baked effect. Here’s my recipe for 
Roar!
Here is the tricky part-pinching the corners. First I lift up the bottom of the round cookie with my thumb. Then with my pointer, I lift one side and pinch that corner together. Then the third side gets lifted and the 2 other corners are pinched together. Here is how it looks.
They look like little edible jewels! I always have a hard time waiting for them to cool before I can gobble them up. It’s not officially the Jewish holiday of Purim if I haven’t burned my mouth on the piping hot jam filling in these hamantaschen.
. This recipe is different than any other hamantaschen recipe I’ve come across. Most recipes are similar to a sugar cookie, crispy and crumbly. This recipe yields a more cake-like cookie, fluffy and tender. I usually like to change every recipe I use to make it better, make it my own, but this recipe is so simple and perfect as is. Plus, it’s non-dairy!