Snow shovels and salt are sold out everywhere, schools are closed for the rest of the week and grocery store shelves are picked clean of meat, milk, bread, fruit and vegetables–one question: why do people always buy the most perishable items?Snoverkill, snOMG, snowmageddon, snowpocalypse…call it what you will, the blizzard of 2010 hit Washington, D.C. hard and left area residents snowed in, including little ‘ole me. My office has been closed for the greater part of the week and, although I’m thankful for the time I get to spend at home with the dogs, I think I’m getting a small case of cabin fever.
Yesterday, I decided to raid our cupboards and refrigerator to see what I had on hand for baking. It turns out, I had very little: a couple sticks of butter, a package of dark brown sugar, two eggs, a dash or two of vanilla, a tiny bit of flour, some baking powder, half a package of walnuts and one cup of semisweet chocolate chips…the perfect ingredients for blondie bars.
Chocolate Chip and Walnut Blondies
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease and flour a 9×13 pan (or, if you have a special brownie pan, go ahead and grease that…these pans are the best!).
- In a large bowl, mix together the butter, dark brown sugar, eggs and vanilla for about one minute.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt and continue to mix.
- Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips, mixing until just combined.
- Press dough into pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (if using the special brownie pan, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes).
- Cool in pan and cut into 3×1 1/2 inch bars.
Today, I woke up to see the sun shining, I have another snow day and I’m in the mood to bake…do I dare venture out to the grocery store to see if there’s anything left?
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