Blondies are the yummier cousin to brownies. A big call, but I think sweet brown sugar, toasted macadamias and a super soft centre make for a superior bar. And with the addition of some espresso shots in this recipe, the coffee cuts through the sweetness from the white chocolate, resulting in an insanely delicious sweet treat.
I wish I could say I brought these into the office to share with the NSW Five Senses team, but I’m afraid they didn’t make it past my front door… Whoops! So for now, here is an easy hit of both coffee & baked goods you can make at home!
Macadamia & Coffee Blondies
Ingredients
- 180g plain flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 heaped tbs almond meal
- 1 tsp coffee grinds
- 170g salted butter
- 300g brown sugar
- 1 big pinch of salt
- 3 tbs of espresso (I recommend a big, chocolately Brazil coffee for this recipe – I used Bom Jardim!)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 180g of white chocolate chopped roughly
- 100g toasted macadamia nuts
Recipe
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, almond meal and coffee grinds together until combined.
- Heat up the butter, brown sugar and salt in a small saucepan, over a low heat, for about 4 minutes until the mixture is hot.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the espresso, stirring until combined. It may take a few minutes to fully emulsify the fat with the espresso coffee, but just keep mixing until you have a smooth, sugary mixture with no visible separated oils. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- While the mixture is cooling, preheat the oven to 170°C and line a medium sized baking tin with baking paper. (I used a 24cm x 24cm tin).
- Once cooled, beat in the egg into the sugar mixture until fully incorporated. This should take about 2 minutes.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and fold gently together. Just before the mixture is fully combined (you want to see a few patches of flour mixture), throw in your white chocolate and macadamias, then mix until just combined. Over mixing the batter will make the blondies come out more cake like rather than the fudgy, gooey blondie texture we’re after.
- Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for 19-24 minutes (I took mine out at 19 minutes and had them rest for a few hours because I love a soft, gooey blondie). Remove from oven at leave to cool completely before slicing.
- Enjoy alongside a cup of your favourite coffee!
