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Bars: Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondies (with Kahlua)

Source of Recipe

J. A. in Los Angeles, CA


Recipe Introduction

"Everybody goes crazy for these. Some people don't want to have these thinking they prefer a brownie but, one taste and their hooked. This is a variation of something that's in one of the Silver Palate cookbooks. These are great to make ahead of time. Before cutting into bars, wrap the whole thing well in plastic and foil and freeze. Thaw, still wrapped and then cut."

List of Ingredients

3/4 c unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 lb dark brown sugar (light is OK too)
3/4 c instant espresso
1 T hot water
4 eggs
2 T vanilla extract
2 c unbleached all purpose flour (plus more for dusting the pan)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c chopped pecans
1 c semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
2—3 T Kahlua or other coffee liquer



Recipe

Heat butter and brown sugar together in a medium size sauce pan over medium low heat until the butter melts. Dissolve the espresso in the hot water and stir into the butter/sugar mixture. Let cool to room temperature or, to speed up the cooling, put the mixture into the mixer and work with the paddle attachment.


Preheat the oven to 350. Butter an 11 x 8 inch pan, line with parchment, butter the parchment, and dust the entire pan lightly with flour. (Okay, I'm a bit compulsive about things not sticking.)


When the butter mixture has cooled, beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla, stopping to scrape down the sides when necessary.


Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and stir into the butter mixture. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips just to combine.


Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 40-50 minutes, until lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Do not overbake.


Immediately after removing the blondies from the oven, brush the Kahlua all over the top using a pastry brush. This will sizzle and give a lovely flavor to the blondies and a beautiful sheen to the top.


I allow these to cool completely in the pan before turning the whole thing out and cutting them.


These make 24 good size bars or more smaller ones.


NOTE: If you don't like pecans, you can substitute walnuts or some other kind of nut. Or, you can leave them out altogether but, if you do, I suggest adding additional chocolate chips to compensate