Make Ahead
Claudia's Blondies
- Prep time 30 minutes
- Cook time 20 minutes
- makes one 9-inch square pan
Author Notes
My brother once dated a woman named Claudia who had two Persian cats, a great joie de vivre, and the best blondie recipe I ever tasted. Claudia and my brother went their separate ways, but as long as there are chocolate chips in the world, I’ll still be making this recipe. Over the years I’ve adapted it (in the original recipe, which included walnuts, the chips were stirred into the batter, but they would invariably sink to the bottom of the pan and melt by the time the dough was baked through).
These are guaranteed to sell out at any bake sale, and they are, hands-down, the most frequently requested homemade treat in our house. —Margot Mustich
What You'll Need
Ingredients
-
1 cup
plus 2 tablespoons unsifted all-purpose flour
-
½ teaspoons
baking soda
-
½ teaspoons
salt
-
4 ounces
(1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
-
6 tablespoons
granulated sugar
-
6 tablespoons
dark brown sugar, firmly packed
-
1
large egg
-
½ teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
-
1 cup
semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease the baking pan with butter or solid vegetable shortening. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Reserve.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the paddle attachment at medium-high speed. When the butter is soft and smooth add the sugars and beat well until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides.
- Turn the mixer back on to low (“stir”) and add the egg and vanilla. Then add the flour mixture, about ½ cup at a time, mixing only long enough to produce a smooth, homogenous dough.
- Transfer the dough to the greased baking pan and spread it out with an offset spatula to make an even, level layer. Don’t worry if it looks like there isn’t enough dough in the pan; it will rise as it bakes. Distribute the chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the upper third of the oven, until the top has turned a nice butterscotch color and the edges are starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Place the pan on a rack to cool completely before cutting.
- Store in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper for up to 5 days (they never last that long!), or double-wrap the whole pan with plastic wrap, wrap again in foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw, wrapped, at room temperature for a few hours before cutting.
- Note: I rarely make only one 9-inch pan of these. For a large batch, double the recipe and use a half sheet pan. Unless you have a convection oven, I recommend baking in the upper third of the oven.
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