The girl bakes! French Toast Blondies

I was browsing blogs this weekend and came across the Master Baker challenge. I’ve yet to participate in a blog event, but this seemed as good a time as ever — especially since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to bake. I needed inspiration.

Inspiration came in the theme ingredient of cinnamon, which is pretty broad. Truth is, I add a dash a cinnamon to just about everything I bake. I wanted to make something that focused on the flavor. I opted for cinnamon blondies. I’d never made blondies before, so I had no base recipe to work from. I chose to work from this recipe at Smitten Kitchen due to it’s high sugar and butter content — can’t go wrong there, right?

The recipe calls for a 8×8 in. pan, but I don’t have one. (I’ll work on that.) I used this weird 9.5 in. square dish instead, so my blondies came out a little flat. Also, I wanted to top these with candied pecans, but I ran out of eggs (candied pecans call for egg whites). Instead, I made a simple powdered sugar glaze and dipped the pecans in it.

The blondies are very rich, sweet, and buttery. The crust is crispy and the middles are chewy — just perfect. They taste like cinnamon (or French) toast, hence the name. I’m quite happy with them — and they disappeared quickly, so I guess my family was too.

French Toast Blondies

Oven Temp.: 350°
Approx. Bake Time: 20-25 minutes
Yields: 8×8 inch dish

Ingredients
1 c. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
7 tbsp. butter, melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. pecans, toasted and chopped

Topping:
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions
- Whisk the flour, salt, and cinnamon together. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar with the melted butter. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in the pecans. Spread batter into an 8×8 baking dish.
- Mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping. Sprinkle this mixture over the batter. (You will likely have more than enough.)
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Don’t over-bake. The blondies may seem underdone, but will set as they cool. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.
- Once cooled, you may opt to top the blondies with cinnamon glazed pecans.

Cinnamon Glazed Pecans

Ingredients
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
milk, as needed
pecans

Instructions
- Combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Slowly add milk until the mixture reaches a syrupy consistency.
- Dip the pecans into the mixture, then place them on top of the blondies. As the glaze dries it will adhere the pecan to the blondie.