Cinnamon Sugar Blondies with Pecans

Oh, I’ve got a good one for you today, guys. This recipe is probably going down as one of my all time favourites. I made these cinnamon sugar blondies on Sunday, and I’ll already be making them again tomorrow.

They’re really good.

I had a casual dinner thing with a couple of my closest friends on Sunday, and I more or less promised I’d bake something and bring it with me (there was definite peer pressure involved). Since I had to take the thing I baked with me on my bike, it had to be something that couldn’t easily be smooshed, hence the blondies. Plus, I love a good blondie/brownie. They’re easy to bake, super delicious, and you can play around with the flavours endlessly.

One thing that’s still not entirely clear to me is whether blondies need white chocolate. Is white chocolate a requirement for a blondie? I don’t think it technically is, but I’m sticking with it, because it just makes sense, doesn’t it?

The cinnamon sugar is the true hero in this recipe. It really takes it up a notch and I love it a lot. Although, I must say, the pecans really add a little something too. In the middle of all the soft lovely blondie-ness, they provide a bit of a bite. Yum!

You’ll need… (for 20 blondies)

For the blondie

• 120 g unsalted butter
• 150 g white chocolate
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavouring
• 175 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 60 g chopped pecans

For the topping

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

The rest

• a baking tin (mine is 20 x 24 cm)
• parchment paper (optional – you could just grease and butter your tin)
• and an oven, of course! These blondies need to be baked at 170 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking!

1. Melt butter and white chocolate Put the butter and the white chocolate together in a sauce pan and melt it over low heat on the stove while stirring.

2. Mix together butter/chocolate and sugar When the butter and white chocolate are melted, take the sauce pan off the stove and let it cool for a little bit (only 2 or 3 minutes). Put the sugar in a large bowl, and add the butter/chocolate mixture to it. Mix it together with a wooden spoon or a whisk. It won’t really get evenly mixed, but that’s okay, because that’ll get fixed later.

3. Add eggs and vanilla flavouring Add the eggs to the mixture and mix them through. Also add the vanilla flavouring and mix it all together until you’ve got a nice and smooth mixture. The eggs will make sure everything is now evenly mixed.

4. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt Now you have to add the flour and the baking powder. If either are particularly lumpy I recommend sieving it above the bowl (especially the baking powder – I always sieve that). Also add the salt and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon, and mix it all through until the mixture is nice and smooth again.

5. Add pecans Lastly, chop or break your pecans into rough pieces, add them to the batter and mix them through.

6. Bake! Line your baking tin with parchment paper and transfer the batter into the tin. Make sure it’s evenly spread out to the edges. Then, place it in your preheated oven and bake the blondie for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

7. Add topping When the blondie is done baking, take it out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes. In the mean time, melt the tablespoon of butter. Also mix together the sugar and the cinnamon until you’ve got a nice cinnamon sugar mixture. Then, brush the blondie with the melted butter (you probably don’t need all of it – just do what you think is best), and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over it. Again, you might not need all of it. It all depends on your own preferences.

8. Cool and cut Let the blondie cool down completely, and then cut it into pieces, so you actually have multiple blondies instead of just the one huge blondie.

And that’s it! Your own delicious cinnamon sugar blondies with pecans – enjoy!