You cannot imagine how many bags of chocolate chips I have in my house at any given moment. Milk chocolate, semisweet, dark chocolate…not to mention cinnamon chips, espresso chips, caramel bits, toffee pieces…the list goes on. There’s a basket in the pantry area of my basement filled with them, bags upon bags of delicious little nuggets just waiting to enhance a recipe.
Blondies, like brownies, are one of my favorite things to bake because you can create whatever you want with them – and this time I wanted a peanut butter toffee chocolate chip combination, like a hybrid of the chocolate chip toffee blondies I baked earlier this summer crossed with Reese’s Pieces blondies from a few years back. The end result, I’m happy to report, is delicious. My nephew Roman started his junior year of high school in North Carolina a few weeks back, and these are his back-to-school treats.
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled for 3 minutes
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, divided
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons toffee bits, divided
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk melted butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter, then eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla until well-combined.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir together using a rubber spatula; batter will be very thick. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup toffee bits, then spread batter into the baking pan, flattening as best you can to create an even layer. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and toffee bits on top.
Bake for 30 minutes, then insert a cake tester in the center; blondies are done if the cake tester comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Be careful not to over-bake these; peanut butter treats tend to dry out if they’re baked too long.
Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan; lift out using parchment paper and cut into 24 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. If shipping, pack between layers of waxed paper.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 