CARAMEL GLAZED BLONDIES

There was a time when I would bake desserts after desserts to share with you guys. That was literally the best time because of all the wonderful sweet things I could eat after taking their photographs. That was my reward. Nowadays, I limit my rewards because I know my waistline was enjoying it a bit too much! But on the other hand, our little family has grown from two to a darling four. Those two additions are ready to eat everything I serve them! Ian is going through a phase (or maybe it's his trait!) of thanking me for every little thing I do for him. He even thanks me and kisses my hands and gives me a hug when I serve him food or even a glass of water! Those little gestures make me so happy! So much more happier than the 'reward' I was talking about earlier.

Ian & Zara have an amazing metabolism that I sometimes wish I had half of theirs! So now that we are a family of 4, the amount of cooking and baking has doubled. It's like never ending! We have a dessert stand at home,where sweet treats appear and disappear at the same time! I love refilling it and now that I have some extra time on my hands, I thought of getting back to sharing it with you all. Zara does her thing and I do my thing. That's how this mother - daughter duo is rolling currently.

Long time back, when Daring Bakers were actually a thing, I received this book for review from the team. I baked a few recipes from it and did my review and that book sat happily in our library until I opened it again last week. Elinor Klivans is a brilliant cookbook author. Even Nigella has spoken about her in one of her shows. As I was glancing through the recipes from Cookies, Brownies & Bars, I realized that I have a lot of brownie recipes here on the blog but not a blondie's.

I baked these last Friday as an after-school treat because when Ian is home from school, he is so hungry that he eats about 4-5 times before his bedtime. Having something sweet is anyhow exciting,so I decided to bake it, take pictures and share it here so that you can also try these delicious bars at home!

CARAMEL GLAZED BLONDIES
Makes 25 small bars

Ingredients:
For the Blondies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar,firmly packed
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the caramel glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Method:
Blondies:
Preheat the oven to 325 F and line a 9 inch square tin with foil and butter the foil.
Whisk together flour, baking powder & salt in a small bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar. Warm over medium heat, stirring often,until melted and smooth. Scrape into a large bow and let it cool slightly.
Add the eggs and vanilla to it and mix using a wooden spoon till it is smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Let it cool in the tin completely.

Frosting:
In a saucepan, combine butter, cream and sugar. Warm over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let it cool. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar and spread the glaze over the cooled blondies. Let it set for 30 minutes and then cut into 25 pieces using a hot knife.

Store in an airtight container.

These bars are extremely moist and mildly sweet given the amount of sugar that's gone into it. Brown sugar makes the baked goods moist, so please use that if you can. They are rich so serve them in smaller portions than you would with brownies. When I ate it, it reminded me of eating a Mysore Pak. Now, that's not how it tastes but the smell of it and even the texture was similar. They went down very well with Jobin, Ian & Zara! I am sure you would love it too!