Tag Archives: pecans

Sep 18

White Chocolate Toffee Toasted Pecan Blondies

I’ve talked about my sweet tooth many times before, but let’s discuss my obsession with sweet things one more time for the purpose of sharing my latest sugar-infused creation. This concoction is actually based on the white chocolate cranberry blondies I made over the summer. But whereas the dried cranberries in that recipe cut the sweetness factor a little, the toffee and toasted pecans in this one serve the opposite purpose. In other words, you’ve been warned: These blondies are sweet. Very sweet. But if you’re like me, that’s not such a bad thing.

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White Chocolate Toffee Toasted Pecan Blondies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 and 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups AP flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup toffee bits
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar until well-combined.
3. Beat or whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture.
6. Stir in the white chocolate chips, toffee bits, and pecans. The batter will be thick.
7. Spread your batter into the prepared pan and bake for 27-32 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let the blondies cool in their pan completely before cutting and serving.

Jan 28

Oatmeal Muffins With Dried Fruits and Pecans

I’m a big fan of muffins. I mean, all you really have to do is call a cupcake a muffin, and you can totally get away with eating it for breakfast.

But while I have to admit that some muffin recipes pack a bit too much early-morning sugar even for a sweet tooth like me, these muffins are, objectively speaking, perfectly breakfast-appropriate. They’re not super sweet, but the combination of dried fruits brings a lot of flavor to the table.

You can definitely feel free to substitute the dried fruits I used for others you might prefer. And if you’re not a fan of pecans, you can get away with using walnuts instead—though I think the pecans work wonderfully.

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Oatmeal Muffins with Dried Fruits and Pecans
Adapted From Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1 cup of traditional rolled oats
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped prunes
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup buttermilk**
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. Stir in the pecans and dried fruit.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula or spoon, stir the mixture together gently until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

**Don’t have buttermilk on hand? Just pour a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup, and then add enough milk to bring the mixture to the one-cup mark. Let it stand for about five minutes, and then you’re good to go.

 

Jan 20

Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Pecan Toffee Blondies

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a wonderful little blog called Dunk and Crumble while looking for a chewy blondie recipe—‘cause that’s just how I like my blondies. I found this recipe and decided to tweak it just a bit by adding toffee bits to the mix. This recipe makes a nice-sized 9 x 13 pan, and it took almost no time to throw together. Best of all, I didn’t have to bust out the stand mixer, hand mixer, food processor, or anything of the sort. All I needed were some mixing bowls, a whisk, a spoon, and a pot for browning the butter. The result? A tasty, chewy blondie that made this busy baking mama a very happy gal.

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Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Pecan Toffee Blondies

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, plus extra to grease the pan
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks (I used Ghirardelli—they were on sale)
½ cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup toffee bits

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper, letting two inches of the paper hang over the side of the pan.
3. Combine the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt in a small-medium bowl
4. Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and keep heating it, stirring frequently, until it turns nice and golden brown. Once browned, bring the butter back to or close to room temperature (if you’re impatient like me, you can consider cheating and putting it in the fridge for a few minutes).
5. Mix the white and brown sugars in a medium bowl.
6. Add the cooled butter to the sugars and whisk until well-combined.
7. Add the eggs to the sugar-butter mixture and whisk.
8. Whisk in vanilla.
9. Add in the flour mixture and whisk until just incorporated.
10. Stir in the chocolate chunks, pecans, and toffee bits.
11. Transfer your batter into the prepared pan (it will be pretty sticky and dense, but resist the urge to mess with it).
12. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top and sides start to brown slightly and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
13. Lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper and cool on a rack. Once they’re completely cool, feel free to slice ‘em up—and do your best not to eat half of them in a single sitting.