Magnolia Monday: Blondie Bars with Cream Cheese Swirl
Amy Faries • March 3, 2020
Chewy and sweet blondie bars topped with a yummy cream cheese layer to satisfy any sweet tooth!
A not so nutty Monday
I want to start this Magnolia Monday off by saying I really was going to use pecans this week in my recipe (for the past couple of Mondays I have been omitting any sort of nuts from my baking). Much to my dismay, both batches of my toasted pecans burnt and I had completely run out of them. I followed the directions perfectly AND made sure my new oven thermometer was attached (Which is absolutely amazing by the way!). I set the oven to 350 degrees and popped the pecans in for 15 minutes. When I pulled them out they were burnt to a crisp, so for the next batch I stuck with the same temperature but only kept them in for 7 minutes. Guess what happened? They of course burnt as well. No sir was I going to go out to the store with a toddler just to grab some pecans. So nuts were completely taken out of the recipe surely for convenience and my sanity.
I have come to learn that Magnolia Bakery really loves to add nuts to a large portion of their sweet treats. I'm assuming they love the nutty smoky flavor different toasted nuts bring to a dish but also offer a great texture. I tend to be very cautious when choosing to add nuts into my baked goods. I know a lot of people who are severely allergic to nuts, so I always make sure everyone knows that certain things I make are NOT nut free and that they should not partake unfortunately.
This week Lily actually let me bake without screaming auntie every 5 seconds! Little victories people, little victories! It was mainly due to the fact that I set her up on the couch with Vampirina on the TV and a nice bowl of Trader Joe's cheddar rockets to keep her company. Sometimes you need to just feed a hangry toddler and let her watch her favorite show in order to be able to bake in piece. Love my little squish to pieces though!
Critique
I do have to say that these blondie bars were very sweet but very tasty. Next time I would love to add a little something extra like a drizzle of some sort that would balance the super sweet taste. I would also suggest to not only butter your dish but lay parchment down so that your edges don't brown too too much. I forgot this step, so my edges came out a little crispier than I had hoped. The texture of these bars is perfect however. They have a nice chew to them without being too sticky or fudgy. I added some sprinkles to my bars and tinted the cream cheese orange for a little extra festive pizazz!
Make sure to purchase your Magnolia Bakery book, so you can follow along week after week and make these recipes yourself!
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