I didn't get a good photo of these and you can't really tell from the photos, but they are the most heavenly treats you can imagine, well if you like peanut butter that is.
They look crumbly in the photos, but they are actually quite fudgey in texture.
You get the creamy, slightly salty flavour from the peanut butter along with little bites of nut and then the sweetness from the white chocolate. Delicious!
I will be making these again very soon. They will definitely go on my favourite and go-to list. I will give you a peek at it. These are the baked goods I make again and again that everyone loves.
1. Flourless Chocolate Cake
It is a really sumptuous cake, very rich and not cakey, more fudgey (yes, I am seeing a trend here). I don't have a photo of it topped, but I finish it with whipping cream. I whizz up some raspberries with icing sugar and swirl it through the cream, then I top it with berries. Lush and gluten-free too!
2. Green Apple Fruit Cake
This is my dad's very favourite cake. I have lost count of how many times I have made it for him. The apple keeps the cake moist and all the lovely spices (cinnamon, mixed spice and ginger) give it a wonderful flavour.
3 Vegan Carrot Cake
This cake truly made me appreciate carrot cake, which I wouldn't have touched with a barge poll before. It is really light and also benefits from some lovely spices. Of course you cannot underestimate the power of a good frosting. I have to hold my hands up and say usually I go dairy for the frosting, but the original recipe I used was vegan, so the option is there.
4. Berry Cake with Lime Drizzle
This became an instant favourite. It is quick, easy and I end up with two cakes for the price of one. I spilt the cake dough into two loaf tins and sometimes have different berries in each. I think my favourite berry in this cake is raspberry, but blueberries and blackberries are good too. I haven't tried strawberries yet.
This is the second of my favourite cake recipes that originally came from Katiecakes (with kind permission). I got the carrot cake from Katie too. Katie records her recipes in metric, so you can check out her blog for the original recipe. You will swoon when you see all the gorgeous cakes there.
5. Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is my absolute favourite cookie recipe. The dough is so velvety and wonderful to handle. I really enjoy making these cookies and they are just how I like them, crisp on the outside and chewy in the centre. I mix up the toppings, sometimes I add nuts, or white, dark or milk chocolate chips. Other times I wrap the dough around a rolo or add fudge pieces. Whichever variety I go for, I just love them.
Now back to the blondies!
Peanut Butter Blondies with White Chocolate Chunks
1 cup plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
100g/¾ cup/1½ sticks softened butter
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (measure to ½cm below the rim)
1¼ cup soft brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g good quality white chocolate, cut into small chunks
Preheat the oven to 170c/325f/Gas Mark 3.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.
In a large bowl cream together the butter and peanut butter until lovely and soft, then add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well combined.
Add the flour mix and chopped chocolate to the dough.
Pour into a lined cake or brownie tin (a square 20 x 20 tin is ideal, but I just grabbed my loose-based round cake tin).
Bake for 25-30 minutes until almost firm in the middle and golden.
Allow to cool in the tin.
Makes 12 squares
I found the recipe for these blondies in Rachel Allen's book called Bake.
It's a lovely book, although nothing can beat actually watching her bake whilst chatting away in that lovely irish accent of hers.
I converted the recipe into cup measures for my own use as I find it much easier, but you can pick the book up for just £9.40 on Amazon just now, so if you prefer metric, you could always treat yourself to the book.
Go on, you know you deserve it!
Disclosure Statement: I did not receive this book free from the publisher. I borrowed this book from the library and decided to review it. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
White chocolate is hard to resist Jacqueline.
ReplyDeleteloved the addition of peanut butter in your blondies --- will think of it the next time i make !
ReplyDeletePeanut butter and white chocolate? I can only imagine how wonderful that is! I can't wait to try these!
ReplyDeleteYumm they look delicious (as Rachel would say!)
ReplyDeleteLove your rundown of your favourite recipes - it's the ones we keep coming back to that really are the best!
the blondes look very good with those chunks of white chocolate!... and I love your flourless chocolate cake, very nice my friend!...
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Val, I can see myself dipping into Cooper's white chocolate drops, once he is a bit older :)
ReplyDeleteThey taste amazing with the peanut butter Priya :)
You are going to love them Michelle :)
I could hear her when you said that Brownieville Girl :)
Thanks Dom :)
From the looks of your recipe, those blondies must be the peanut butteriest which is just how I like them. Great idea to add the white chocolate. I have a new linky on my blog called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by this weekend and link this up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/01/sweets-for-saturday-1_21.html
ReplyDeleteI've tried this recipe before and it wasn't a rip roaring success! Maybe I baked them too long as they came out really dry and crumbly. You have encouraged me to give it another try though as yours have turned out perfectly ;0)
ReplyDeleteYour picture of the blondies is wicked Jac - certainly makes me want to dive on them straight away. I've made these before and they are certainly on my to make again list.
ReplyDeleteI have limited appreciation for peanut butter, owing to eating WAY TOO MUCH of it during childhood, but I might experiment with these, with regular chocolate instead of white (which to me isn't chocolate at all, as it has no cocoa in it). I'll bet your house smells fantastic when you bake this.
ReplyDeletesomehow I think peanut butter and white chocolate would go together so well - and it is quite understandable not feeling you got the photo you wanted - I am sure these disappeared quickly :-) but I am still seduced
ReplyDeletePeanut butter + white chocolate = heaven (well done you for making these brownies, I think I'd probably just eat these two ingredients straight up out of the jar/packet!)
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing list! Thanks so much. Especially like the sound of berry cake with lime drizzle.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa, I will have a look tomorrow, I am off to bed now. It's been a tiring weekend.
ReplyDeleteHave another go Chele, we loved them and Graham is still raving about them.
I just love them Choclette, I will have to make them again soon.
They did smell great Tanita. Peanut butter is still an amazing thing for me. I never had any as a child.
I only had the one piece and gave the rest to Graham to take to work. Apparently they went down very well indeed and a few people had a second piece. He came home with n empty tin.
I know what you mean Lucy and I did have a sneaky bit of white chocolate and of course the spoon I used to scoop out the peanut butter had to be licked :)
It is a great cake TB, very light and tasty too :)
Oh yum...these look gorgeous, I will definitely be having a go, I have the book and somehow I completely missed them. I'm going to look back through it and see just what else I've missed!!
ReplyDeleteSue xx
Love the look of those blondies. And all those other scrumptious bakes for that matter. I'm a peanut butter fiend but oddly have never tried it in a 'sweet' recipe like this.
ReplyDeleteIf microsoft could hurry up and invent photos with flavour I would be licking my computer screen right now!!!
ReplyDeleteI just received 'Bake' from Amazon and have been slobbering over the entire book - I had to buy it as the library wanted their copy back!!!! I haven't made these yet, but now they're on my 'to do' list.
ReplyDeleteI so love the green apple fruit cake, the berry cake with lime drizzle and the I adore the chocolate crisp cookies. And I can only say that the peanut butter blondies look delicious.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see why everyone loves the things on this list--all sound totally scrumptious! And the photo is good enough to make me crave those blondies. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI've never made peanut butter blondies but love the sound of them! And I love peanut butter with chocolate so these are perfect.
ReplyDelete