Peanut butter and white chocolate blondies

This is the first recipe I have made from Rachel Allen's 'Bake'. For fans of peanut butter obviously, which I most certainly am.

This recipe is fantastic - quick and easy to make, and utterly rewarding to eat :p. I made a slightly healthier version, though still naughty. I used Devondale Light butter (just because I hadn't softened any proper butter) and light peanut butter as that was what I had to hand. I did wonder if these alterations would change the brownies much in terms of texture. Normal peanut butter is softer than the reduced fat version, so I thought it mightn't beat as well with the butter, but then the light butter is much softer than normal butter, so it seemed to work out fine. The resulting brownies were moist and moreish, so it didn't seem to matter too much that I reduced the overall fat content slightly.

The recipe...

• 125g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g butter
• 150g crunchy peanut butter
• 175g soft light brown sugar
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75g white chocolate, chopped

Butter and line a 20 x 20cm square cake tin.
Preheat the oven to 170º C.
Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.
Cream together the butter and peanut butter until very soft. Add the brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined. Add the flour / baking powder and chocolate and mix to form a dough.
Spread the dough into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and almost firm in the centre.
Allow to cool in the tin, then remove and cut into squares.


Years ago from my Family Circle slices cookbook I learnt the trick of extending the baking paper up two opposite sides of the tin to make it easier to remove the slice. I didn't leave much paper extended here, but it was still enough to make it very easy to remove the cooked blondie.


Even though it says to cool in the tin, I didn't wait until it was completely cooled before removing it using my baking paper handles to cool on the rack. I was feeling impatient to get stuck in as it smelt so good!


Sliced while still just slightly warm - yuuuum!

While I was baking the blondies a courier arrived with another parcel for me - gorgeous snowflake cookie cutters, and 2 stunning Nordic Ware bundt tins - the original bundt tin and the star tin. This joins my Nordic Ware cathedral bundt pan and pancake pan. I have my eye on several others, but how many bundt tins can a girl justify having?!