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photo credit: caryn74

So I’m checking out Anne’s Food and I come across a recipe she stole from the Smitten Kitchen called Blondies. I figured they were kind of like brownies but racist but actually they are halfway between cake and a cookie. Besides being just great desserts they are perfect for new bakers because:

1. The Ingredients Are Simple - The rarest thing in there is brown sugar.
2. The Procedure Is Simple - You slap it in a bowl, stir and bake. Nothing to rise, nothing to be ‘creamed’.
3. You Can Experiment - This is the perfect recipe to play with. The batter is basically a delivery mechanism for ‘other crap’, anything from chocolate chips to toasted almonds.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter(4 oz) melted photo credit: VeryBadLady
  
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 cups ‘other crap’

Procedure:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease up the smallest baking dish you have(like a 9′ by 9′).

In a bowl mix the sugar and melted butter. Then stir in the egg, salt, and flour one at a time. I add the vanilla last to minimize evaporation(it is alcohol based)

And yes you need to use real vanilla. Vanilla makes random flavors ‘play nicely together’. Blends them. And since the whole point of Blondies is random flavors, we really want real vanilla extract.

Then I add the ‘other crap’. This could be anything, chocolate chips, peanuts, peanut butter, mini-marshmallows, raisins, etc. This is great to experiment with because there’s no “bad” combination.

One of my favorite combo’s is:

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup chocolate chips

So these are added last and stirred into the mix, then the whole bowl is dumped into the baking dish. Then throw the dish into the oven for 20-25 minutes. I usually pull mine at 22 to get the perfect ratio of gooey to chunky.

If you pull them a little too soon don’t worry about it. Just dig the pieces out of the dish and throw them in a Ziploc with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Shake it up and let the sugar stick to the surface of the chunks. Pour that in a bowl and no one will notice if they’re a little underdone.

Easiest baking you’ll ever do.

I remember the last time my brother came over for breakfast(God I hate him). As he was mowing down his third short stack he asks:

“Are these pancakes made from scratch?”

It’s not like I was in a field threshing wheat at 4 in the morning. All I did was mix up some really common ingredients, most of which have the shelf life of Joan Rivers. How does that qualify as ‘from scratch’?

The fact is the difference between pancakes from a box and good pancakes is about 5 minutes. Less if you keep a tupperware full of pre-made powder. And it’s easy. If you’re looking for somewhere to start learning how to cook this is it:

Step 1 : Dry

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Sugar

Throw it all in a bowl and stir with a whisk.

Step 2: Wet

• 4 tbs(a half stick) melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups room temperature buttermilk

Throw the eggs in a bowl and beat them. Then temper in the butter(it’s easy, I describe it here). Add the buttermilk(let it get to room temp first, otherwise your batter will be a bit lumpy) and mix.

By the way, buttermilk is important. You can’t just put regular milk in there and get the same results, that’s because the buttermilk is acidic and when it hits the baking soda it’s going to make more bubbles. That’s what makes real pancakes so much fluffier then the ones you make from a box.

But here’s the nice thing about buttermilk, it’s so acidic that it’s really bacteria resistant. So even though it’s got a date it almost never goes bad in the fridge. I’d say you have at least 2 months to use it past the expiration date.

Step 3: Bringing it all together

Now don’t mix the wet and the dry until the griddle is up to temperature. That’s 325-350 degrees. If you don’t have an electric griddle(you savage) then you can use the flattest pan you have on the stove. When you drop water on the pan and it skitters around like an ice skating fruit it’s the right temp.

Now the mixing of the wet and dry is the step most people screw up. Listen carefully, you pour the wet on the dry and using a broad spoon(or spatula) mix for no more than 15 seconds. I know there are still lumps, I know you think you should keep stirring, but don’t. The lumps will cook out and stirring more will just make the pancakes tough. Did you ever notice that restaurant pancakes aren’t as chewy as a flat bagel? That’s why.

Once you mix let the batter sit for 5 minutes to build up some bubbles. Then use a ladle, or if you’re in super single guy mode a cup, to drop the batter on your griddle. Don’t make the pancakes much bigger than your spatula.

This really is much easier on an electric griddle. In fact a lot of things are easier on a griddle. You have perfect temperature control and wide open spaces. Flipping things like pancakes and sliders without having to get around the edge of a pan is awesome. And you can cook 8 pancakes at a time instead of 2. This is my griddle, and I recommend it to anybody:

Then when the bubbles set around the edges flip them over. Cook them on the other side for about half the time. For me it’s usually 3 minutes on the first side and 1 and a half on the second.That’s it. A little extra mixing of ingredients you should already have and you have pancakes from scratch. And while this recipe makes more than mortal man can consume and stay conscious, these pancakes freeze and reheat perfect.