Embarassingly Simple Funfetti Blondies

As the school year comes to a close, so does my time teaching Religious Education to my little group of 2nd graders. Last week, I told my kiddos that I wanted to bring in a special treat for our last class together and asked them all to think of what dessert they would like. After several very serious minutes of intense thinking - I do not recall them giving any of our class projects such sincere mental effort - they responded unanimously: "Something with sprinkles."

Sprinkles? 

What is it with kids and sprinkles? Sprinkles are relatively tasteless, get stuck between your teeth, and never stay stuck to the cake, doughnut, cookie, whatever. On the rare occasion that we pay a visit to a bakery for some morning pastries, Matthew always insists on choosing a doughnut with sprinkles. And those dang sprinkles fall everywhere and wedge themselves in every nook and cranny of our kitchen floor. I find myself sweeping them up days after that doughnut was devoured. I hate sprinkles.

Why do kids love them? 

After my kiddos gave me their request, I asked them why they liked sprinkles on everything. Here are some of their responses:

1. "They are pretty."

2. "They remind me of a rainbow!"

3. "I like to eat one sprinkle at a time. The red ones taste the best."

4. "Sprinkles remind me of my birthday."

5. "Sprinkles are awesome!"

6.  And Matthew's contribution: "Monkey eats the sprinkles." His answer makes the most sense, does it not?

The general consensus: The sprinkles make my kids happy. So sprinkles they shall get - in the form of these Funfetti Blondies!

Now, since I have to make four batches of blondies I took the easy route and used a box mix to make these. I know - totally cheating. But the bottom line is, the little kids do not care that I did not make these completely from scratch and making a bunch of blondies using a boxed mix saves me a lot of time and energy. But don't get me wrong - these are still pretty delicious. Filled with sprinkles and white chocolate pieces, they taste like gooey pieces of cake batter. They are pretty addicting - especially once chilled. For some reason I liked them better that way. 

If you're looking for a sprinkle fix, these blondies certainly fit the bill. I think my kids are going to go crazy for these. Literally crazy. Kids turn into little maniacs while high on sugar. Of course, the best part about sugar highs is that they normally end like this:

Funfetti Blondies

adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

1 box Funfetti Cake Mix

1/4 cup oil

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/3 cup sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x8 pan. 

Pour the cake mix into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, and milk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil mixture. Fold together with a spatula until well combined. Add the chocolate chips and half the sprinkles and fold together until evenly distributed. Top with more sprinkles.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (I take mine out usually at 25 minutes on the dot). The blondies will not brown and the center will be very soft. That's what you what - these will set up as they cool!

Let them cool completely on a wire rack. I like to transfer mine to the fridge or freezer to chill before slicing - it makes it much, much easier!

Cut into squares, eat, and be happy.