Eddie French: Blondies

Eddie is our first returning contributor to Cooking With Comedians, his recipe for Big Fat Greedy Pasta Bake can be found here.

These are Brownie like treats without the cocoa content so you don't overpower the other stuff in there. I can find some brownies a bit too rich if they have chocolate chips in, or other goodies so these can be made rather unique and exciting. This is how I achieve excitement these days. Society is to blame but that's for another time.

Fixings.

300g All purpose flour

170g Butter, melted and cooled slightly

200g Light brown sugar

100g Granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (optional but very good if you're using a lot of chocolate in your 'Goodies' section)

280g Goodies. What ever you like really. Chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, methamphetamine, chunks of boiled sweet, hundreds and thousands or any combination of the above.

Method.

Preheat the oven to 160. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan (or 2 8x12 pans) with buttered/oiled greaseproof paper, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the Blondies. from the pan after they have baked.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together into a bowl  Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and Cayenne if you're using it, and then mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until combined.

It's important not to overdo this. Otherwise the mixture doesn't hold any air and you can end up with a very dense mixture.

Fold in the goodies and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

A nice tip here is to keep the rubber spatula wet with a bowl of lukewarm water (email me if you need my recipe for this).

Put the tray into the oven, about 1/3 from the bottom. Bake until the top of the Blondies are light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan. About 25 minutes should do it. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove from the pan by lifting the paper overhang and sling them onto a chopping board. Cut into 2-inch squares or simply tear off handfuls of the barely-cooled batch and cram into your tear-streaked face as your phone sits on the side, wilfully silent.

@EddieTheFrench