Brewer's Blondies

Last night, Matthew knocked Emma over and began to drag her across the deck with a hula-hoop. We sent him to his room.

When he came down approximately 30 minutes later, he saw that we were pulling some enchiladas out of the oven for dinner. "I can't want like enchiladas. They are yucky!" he proclaimed.

Paul told him that he had to at least try them before he made that judgement call. Matthew began to throw a fit.

Paul then picked up the jar holding all of our kitchen utensils, set them on the floor in front of Matthew, and told him that it was now up to him to select the spoon/whisk/spatula/ladle to be used for his spanking. Matthew groaned and selected a white plastic spoon. He received a quick swat on the rump and was an angel for the remainder of the night.

Sometimes Paul's parenting techniques really crack me up. He is really effective! I had to capture a couple pictures of the whole scenario. Yes, Matthew is actually laughing because he thought the whole thing was kind of funny...that is, until the whole spanking part.

Perhaps it is the stressful nature of parenting that compels Paul to pick up a beer every night immediately after the children are finally quiet for the night. He claims that even before discovering his love of beer and other malted alcoholic beverages, he always loved malted milk products - including Whoppers, his favorite candy. Thank goodness somebody likes those things because I personally hate them! While glancing through one of my favorite baking books, Paul saw a blondie recipe that called for both chopped up Whoppers and a generous amount of malted milk powder. He was sold! He wanted me to make those blondies the next time I baked. So, last weekend, Emma and I picked out the ingredients from the store (on a rare errand out just us women!) and these were happily baking in the oven within no time!

Waiting for them to cool was difficult, they looked and smelled heavenly. But they were more than worth the wait! I think this might be my new favorite blondie recipe. The malt really shines through combined with the salty batter, the crunchy nuts, and the gooey melted chocolate. These would be perfect served warmed with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream over top. I loved that they were not too sweet and not any single ingredient overpowered the others. Everything worked together harmoniously to create a pretty fantastic treat! All four of us loved these cookies and I can't wait to make them again!

It was only after taking and then uploading these pictures that I noticed my camera lens was covered with tiny little fingerprints. The camera is no longer safe in its usual perch atop the microwave (a great spot for it, I know) since my 17-month-old has discovered that the dining chairs may be easily pushed to access any high spaces. Bear with the pictures, fingerprints and all!

Brewer's Blondies
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 3/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup malted milk balls (like Whoppers or Maltesers), coarsely chopped in a food processor
3/4 cup (9 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and malted milk powder together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until completely combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture in two batches until just combined. Add the malted milk balls, chocolate chips and walnuts and beat until just combined, about 10 seconds. The mixture will be thick. Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the blondie comes out clean.


Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. These blondies taste delicious warm and cooled to room temperature. Wait until the blondies have completely cooled before cutting if you desire to make neat little squares.