Brown Butter Blondies with Dates and Dried Cherries

These brown butter blondies from Sweeter Off the Vine are incredible. I hesitate to say it, but I think they are even better than the Back in the Day Bakery blondies I've made at least 25 times in the last year. With Yossy's blondies, you get a hint of the browned butter flavor, chewiness from the dried fruit, a hint of mellow bourbon, and fudginess from the chocolate chunks. They smell amazing when they come out of the oven, but you'll miss out on the brown butter flavor if you don't wait for them to cool. I could not stop eating these and one friend actually drooled while eating these, because, he said, they were so good. I had people asking me if there were any left hours after the last piece had disappeared.

These brown butter blondies courtesy of Yossy Arefi and her fabulous new cookbook are really simple to make. The most involved part of the recipe is browning the butter, but even that step doesn't take more than 15 minutes. Once you brown the butter, all that remains to be done is letting the butter cool while you chop your dried fruit, then mixing together the batter, folding in the fruit and chocolate chips, and finally spreading the batter into your pan of choice. Experimenting with the Back in the Day Bakery blondie taught me that I strongly prefer the "thin blondie" style rather than the "thick blondie", so I opted for that here as well.

The batter is pretty thick, so it does not spread particularly well in the pan (especially on top of slippery parchment paper), but no matter. Blondies are meant to be consumed with gusto, not admired as a work of art, so I pushed my batter into the corners as best I could and into the oven they went. Thirty-two impatient minutes later, my blondies were cooling and I was trying to give them at least 10 minutes before cutting into them to see if they tasted as divine as they smelled. They did, and now every time I look at the dates in my fridge or on a store shelf somewhere, I want to make another batch of these. They are plenty moist from the butter and dried fruit, such that they'll remain delicious for 2-3 days at room temperature tightly wrapped in plastic or stored in tupperware. They can also be sliced and frozen for individual servings later, just defrost for an hour or so before eating.

Brown Butter Blondies from Sweeter Off the Vine

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings: 24 large bars

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

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• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts optional
• ½ pound (225 g) unsalted butter
• 2 cups (385 g) light brown sugar packed
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons bourbon or scotch optional
• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup (150 g) Medjool dates pitted and chopped (approximately 10)
• ¾ cup (30 g) dried cherries roughly chopped (approximately 10 large or 30-40 small)
• 1 cup (5.5 oz) dark or bittersweet chocolate chunks

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Cover the bottom and sides of a 9x13'' pan with parchment paper.
3. If using walnuts, place on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast until golden in the preheated oven, about 10 minutes.
4. Slice the butter into 15-20 pieces, place in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until melted. As it melts, the butter will foam. Keep cooking the butter after the foam subsides for another 7-10 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally. It is done once the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter takes on a nutty fragrance. Remove from the heat, pour into a heat-safe bowl to cool slightly.
5. Pit and dice the dates and dried cherries into bite-sized pieces.
6. Meanwhile, cream together sugar, eggs, vanilla, bourbon, and salt. Mix until combined.
7. Whisk in the browned butter.
8. In a separate bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.
9. Be sure the dough is no warmer than room temperature, then gently fold in dates, dried cherries, and chocolate chunks (and walnuts, if using).
10. Dollop the sticky, thick dough in to prepared pan and gently even out the top, pushing the dough into the corners. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until shiny golden brown and slightly cracked on top and a toothpick comes out with crumbs attached.
11. Allow to cool in pan for at least 10 minutes, then transfer to a metal cooling rack until completely cool.
12. I think these are even better one day after baking, if you can wait that long. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days, or you can cut in blondies into squares, then freeze for up to one month.
    

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