I'd like to take you to the movies, but they don't allow you to bring your own snacks (;
I'd like to take you to the movies, but they don't allow you to bring your own snacks (;
Banana Spice Chocolate Chip Blondies
I had a banana bread craving but also wanted a gooey chocolate chip cookie so I took my chocolate chip cookie recipe and made a few adjustments
prep time: 15 min
cook time: 25 min
From the Kitchen
Before you start:
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt the butter and let it cool slightly so it doesn’t scramble the eggs.
- The spottier the banana, the better. No ripe bananas? Mash the banana with one of the egg yolks and let it sit for 30 to 45 minutes before you start.
- This uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Using Morton kosher, use a heaping ½ tsp. Using table salt or fine sea salt, use a scant ½ tsp.
Why This Works:
- Melted butter instead of creamed butter keeps them dense and chewy. Creaming whips air into the batter, and that air is what makes bars cakey.
- One whole egg plus two yolks means more fat and less water from the whites, so the center stays rich and fudgy.
- Mostly brown sugar keeps them moist and gives that caramel flavor that goes so well with banana.
- A really spotty banana has turned more of its starch into sugar, so you get more sweetness and a lot more banana flavor. It also adds moisture, so they stay soft for days.
- The egg yolk trick works because yolks have an enzyme that breaks starch down into sugar, so letting it sit with an underripe banana gives you some of that ripe banana sweetness.
- Pumpkin pie spice is cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves in one jar, so you get that banana bread warmth from one ingredient.
- Pulling them when the center looks barely underdone keeps them gooey. They keep cooking from the heat of the pan as they cool.
- Letting them cool and chill before cutting gives the butter and chocolate time to set, which is how you get clean squares.
Banana Spice Chocolate Chip Blondies
Ingredients
Wet
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1½ cups (380 g) light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (113 g) white sugar
- ½ cup mashed very ripe banana (about 1 large)
- 1 egg + 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry
- 2¼ cups (324 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp (1 g) baking soda
- 1 tsp (4 g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1½ tsp (4 g) pumpkin pie spice
Chocolate
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
-
Line the pan with parchment, leaving some overhang on the long sides so you can lift the whole slab out later.
-
Whisk the melted butter with both sugars until glossy, about 1 minute.
-
Whisk in the banana, then the egg and yolks, then the vanilla.
-
Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. A little flour showing is fine. Don't overmix; we want chewy, not cakey.
-
Chocolate time. Save a small handful of chips for the top and fold the rest in to finish mixing. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and sprinkle the reserved chips on top.
-
Bake for 23 to 25 minutes. Ready when: the edges are golden and set, and the center looks just barely underdone. It finishes setting as it cools.
-
Cool slightly, then devour. Warm and gooey: let them sit about 30 minutes for melty chips. Clean squares: cool a full hour, then chill 20 minutes before cutting.
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