Tag Archives: Vanilla

I usually don’t buy sweets or junk food.  If I’m going to have a party I load up on Trader Joe’s snacks (I definitely have no qualms about that), but other than those times I generally keep my foodmoney focused on the essentials.

Plus, I’ve found that I’m a really lazy person.  So if my choices are, A) don’t eat a late night chip snack and B) drive to the store to get a late night chip snack, I’m almost always going to cuddle up in bed and forgo the drive.  It’s the best way for me to curb cravings.  I just don’t keep sweets and salty snacks around.  And then, if I’m superdupergonnadiewithoutit craving something, badly enough to go to the store for it, then I know it’s worth it.  Easy solution.

But having said all that, sometimes my inner baker comes out as a result of cravingtime.  Instead of reaching for the keys I reach for the sugar and flour.

Now, full disclosure, I’m not really much of a baker.  Baking requires many more precise measurements than I’m usually willing to muster.  With cooking, I can substitute with ease and throw in ingredients willy-nilly.  Whenever I try that with baking, though, I find myself with rock-salt brownies or completely flattened cookies.
However, when I find a fairly straightforward recipe (and make sure to follow it!) I can usually make it work.

For whatever reason, I was craving blondies.  I have no idea why.  I’ve never made blondies before, I’m usually a brownie girl all the way.  But the idea of making blondies got into my head and, of course, I had to make them.  I thought I had a bunch of butterscotch chips in my cabinet and figured that blondies would be a good excuse to use some of the chips up.

When I went to grab the bag, however, it turned out that they weren’t butterscotch, but rather cinnamon.  Who knew those even existed?  I had also bought a dark chocolate bar at the store, so thus the Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies were born!

The recipe was inspired by Simply Recipes’ Blondies recipe, but I made a few adaptations (I know, I know, I can never just leave well enough alone!).

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Blondies
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup melted butter
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-1 lightly beaten egg
-1 tablespoon honey
-(at least) 1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/8 teaspoon baking soda
-pinch of salt
-1 and 1/4 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/3 cup cinnamon chips (or to your liking)
-1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate bar (or chips)

Make it Happen:
1.  Butter your 8×8 pan (this is what was suggested, I used a larger pan and thus got flatter Blondies… again, making changes…).  And set oven to 350°F to preheat.
2.   Mix melted butter and sugar.
3.  Beat egg and then add to butter/sugar mixture along with honey, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, cinnamon.  Mix well.
4.  Add cinnamon chips and dark chocolate.
5.  Spoon mixture into pan, then bake for 20-25 minutes.  If you’re like me and always forget to set a timer, keep your nose alert and check the center with a fork or toothpick for doneness.
6.  You know the drill: cool, cut, eat.

Anyways, this scheisse is seriously delicious.  I think the combo of cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla made my tastebuds deliriously happy.  Even my friend, a self-proclaimed non-blondies fan, loved them!  And, can you believe it, they actually turned out despite my self-destructive desire to make changes left and right!