Brown Butter Blondies with Cherries, Chocolate, Cashews and Pecans

I know browning butter is old news in the culinary world, but it's definitely a trick we should all have up our sleeves. It's an easy way to elevate both sweet and savory recipes and I love using it to give cookies, crusts and bars a deep toasty flavor. For this recipe I combined it with dark brown sugar, a hefty dose of salt and a splash of bourbon because I couldn't resist. Then I packed the already rich batter full of all kinds of good stuff, but feel free to switch up the additions to your taste, just keep it to about four cups. When all was said and done these blondies were wrapped up and sent away to a good friend out West and while I was sad to see them go, I was happy they weren't parked on the counter taunting me to eat them for every meal.

Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to pop into one of your local farmer's markets. The first strawberries and rhubarb are trickling down to New York and people are going crazy for them, myself included.

Brown Butter Blondies with Cherries, Chocolate, Cashews and Pecans
yield 9x13 pan, cut into 16-24 pieces

1 cup butter
3 cups dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoon bourbon (optional)
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup roughly chopped cashews
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 cups chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º and line a 9x13 baking pan with foil and grease well

1. Brown the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until all of the milk solids turn golden and the butter has a nutty fragrance being careful to not let it burn. Remove from heat and stir in the dark brown sugar, set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, bourbon and salt. Whisk in the cooled butter, sugar mixture then fold in the flour and baking powder.
3. Stir in the nuts, cherries and chocolate, but make sure the mixture is cool enough that the chocolate won't melt. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35min or until the top is shiny, set and slightly cracked around the edges. Place on a wire rack to cool completely then cut into squares.

Nibby Bittersweet Brownies

I never know what to say when people ask about my favorite thing to bake. I usually just spout out the first thing that comes to mind because the truth is, I don't have an answer, I love it all. I enjoy the time, technique and concentration it takes to put together a layer cake or multi component dessert, but I also love how easy it is to throw together a batch of cookies or a pan of brownies. Especially these brownies that have caused men and women all over the country to declare them the best ever. I'm not one for hyperbole, but I can say that I've baked a lot of brownies and these certainly are my brownie ideal. They are dark and fudgy with a crackly top and a little crunch from the cacao nibs and they ship really, really well if you have some far away friends in need of a pick me up. Have a great weekend you guys!

Nibby Bittersweet Brownies
adapted from Alice Medrich

8oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
3oz unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1c sugar
3 eggs
1t vanilla extract
heaping 1/4t salt
1.75 oz (1/3c plus 1T) flour
1/4c cacao nibs (optional)
1/2t flaky salt to sprinkle on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º and line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with foil and grease lightly

1. Put the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt until the mixture is lighter in color, about 3min.
3. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and whisk to combine, then fold in the flour and 2T of the cacao nibs. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining 2T of cacao nibs and flaky salt if desired. Slide into the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out clean, 25-30min. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

p.s. I love eating these brownies cold, straight from the fridge.
p.p.s. Thank you so much for the enthusiastic response to my Ombre Cake, in just 2 days it is already the most popular post on the blog, by a long shot.