Dirty Blondies

In honor of being back in California, I'd like to share my dirty blondies! Not the "blondes" with glaring dark roots that crowd the streets of downtown, but a delicious combination of blondie and brownie.  This recipe came from my wanting to bring something new to a gathering of friends.  I'd already peddled my blondies, but the only other option in my, at the time bare, cabinets was brownies and that was too plain.  Not able to decide, I turned to my sister for suggestions, well really just to whine and to see what she could make of it.  As she often does, she quickly came to a conclusion...just combine them.  It turned out that just combining them was just brilliant!  The chocolatey brownies were a perfect base for the brown sugar, butterscotchy blondies and these dirty blondies, a name coined with a little help from my Nashville friends, were an instant crowd pleaser.
Simple and simply amazing, these will satisfy any sweet tooth :)

Brownie Ingredients
1 bag chocolate chips
Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie box mix (how easy is that?)
According to fudgy, NOT cake-like, brownie instructions:
2                       eggs
1/4 cup              water
1/2 cup              vegetable oil

Blondie Ingredients
1 1/2 cups           packed brown sugar
1 cup                 butter
2 1/4 cups          flour
3/4 tsp              baking soda
1/2 tsp               salt
2                       eggs
1 tsp                  vanilla
1 bag                 butterscotch chips

Warning: this does require some extra dishes and washing, but it's worth it...I promise!

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray sides of 9x13in baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

Brownies
3. Prepare brownie batter according to fudgy brownie instructions.
4. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into baking pan and set aside.

Blondies
6. Put the sugar in mixing bowl.
7. Melt butter and pour over sugar.
8. Stir butter and sugar until smooth and combined.
9. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
10. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).
11. Mix in butterscotch chips.

Dirty Blondies
12. Spoon dollops of blondie batter on top of brownie batter in 9x13in pan.
13. Spread the blondie batter to cover brownie batter. Be gentle when spreading because the blondie batter is thicker than the brownie.  Don't worry about spreading it perfectly even, there will always be some people that want more of the brownie than blondie and vice versa.
14. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Definitely err on the side of less is more. The gooey-er these are, the better!

Bake and Tell: Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of my favorites because it can pass for breakfast, snack, and dessert.  It's a great save when the bananas accidentally go bad, and even better after buying bananas and anxiously waiting for them to go bad just to make this.  The best part of making this bread, next to eating it, is getting to smash the bananas!  My recipe calls for 3 bananas but if you're in a pinch, as I've been a few times, 2 bananas works just as well.  This banana bread is great sliced by itself and a spread of butter makes it that much yummier!
Happy banana bread baking :)

Ingredients
3/8 cup       shortening
3/4 cup       sugar
1/4 cup        brown sugar (shhh...my secret ingredient)
2                 eggs
3/4 tsp        vanilla
1 1/2 cups     flour
1/4 tsp         salt (or 1/8 if you're anti-salt like me!)
3/4 tsp         baking soda
3                  bananas mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray sides of loaf pan with cooking spray and line pan with parchment paper.
3. Mash peeled bananas with a fork until smooth and soupy. Set aside.
4. Cream together shortening, sugars, and eggs.
5. Mix in vanilla.
6. Mix in dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda).
7. Add mashed bananas and mix until just combined.
8. Pour batter into loaf pan.
9. Bake for 1 hour.
10. Let cool, if you can wait that long! Slice, spread with butter and enjoy :)

Baking Quirks

Before posting my recipes I should share that I have a few baking quirks that may break a rule or two of the science of baking.  This breaking of rules is quite uncharacteristic for me and I must admit that I do enjoy my little recipe rebellions.  Whether these are rule breakers or secret weapons, it's part of what I love about making the treats my own.  So here they are, my baking true confessions.
First, I think salt in baking is weird.  I know salt has a purpose and there are plenty of reasons for using it and the right amount of it, but I just can't do it.  I only use about half the amount of salt listed in recipes and even that hurts me.  I'm often guilty of overflowing the measuring cup with brown sugar and the spoon with vanilla, but never do I ever even come close to filling the measuring spoon with salt.
The next two quirks stem from a strong dislike of washing dishes.  If/When I have a bakery, the first person I hire will be a dishwasher and maybe even two!  I've come across a couple little tricks to lessen the dishwashing load.  When the recipe calls for a small bowl to whisk or mix together the dry ingredients I don't do it...that's a whole extra bowl to wash!  I just cream the butter, sugar and such then add in all the dry ingredients.  I give it all a quick stir before turning on the mixer, my attempt at partially following the recipe and at not coating the kitchen with flour, and end up with an even quicker clean up. Also, I like to line my baking trays and pans with parchment paper instead of just buttering them.  It helps with the sticking and the washing, double bonus!
Now that I've confessed my dirty baking secrets on with the recipes, minus a few pinches of salt!

what's shiny, glass, and red all over?

My new KitchenAid Rudolph Red Standing Mixer!

It is officially called "Candy Apple Red" buuut I love Christmas and when I first saw this mixer, admittedly during Christmas present shopping for others, I immediately thought of Rudolph's shiny red nose.  After first discovering this gorgeous mixer, I visited it on each of the following Steeb girl shopping trips to make sure it was still there and to pretend I was one visit closer to having it as my own.  It turns out that I really was one step closer to calling this Rudolph Red mixer mine because it found its way to my Nashville apartment just in time for my 23rd birthday!  As the wrapping and styrofoam fell to the floor I could hardly believe that this beautiful mixer was really mine, and then I could hardly decide what to do with it.  The red was so shiny, and the glass and stainless steel were so clean that I wasn't sure if I wanted to use it or just stare and smile at it.  But, after ever-so-gently snapping all the pieces into place I couldn't gather my ingredients and recipe book fast enough.  I just so happened to have three brown-speckled, over-ripened bananas hiding in a corner of my kitchen counter.  And so the decision was made, my first date with the glowing Rudolph Red mixer was to make my specialty banana bread.  That one date was definitely not enough for me.  I'd never washed a dish as fast as I did that glass mixing bowl, and I've had it snapped back into place with the beaters running overtime ever since.

Coming soon: I bake and tell with my banana bread recipe

proudly presenting (drum roll please).....the Sugar Lining!

The Sugar Lining has been a small, sweet idea baking in my head for quite some time and hopefully it will sprinkle your screen often.  That "desserts" is "stressed" spelled backwards is no coincidence in my mind, or in my stomach for that matter.  Baking is my feel-better sugar lining at the end of a long day and even longer assignments.  Thanks to the recipes tucked in countless folders, binders, and books and to the guidance of my mom, I've found piece of mind and cake in baking.  As my friends and family can attest, my baked goods are reliably loaded up in my travel caddy and ready for sharing just about the time a major paper or project finds its way to my professors' hands.  Now that it's finally summer I need a better, more upbeat reason to put all the sugary goodness to work and some fresh taste-buddies too.  So, with the encouragement and not so subtle nudging of my sister, I introduce the Sugar Lining.  Eat sweet :)