What to bake this weekend for the children on mid term break just got a whole lot easier. Our award-winning food blogger Jessica Hylton shares two sweet treats

Enjoy!

Classic, Chewy Fudgy Brownies:

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

45 mins

Serves: 9, 12, or 16

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons water

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips, melted

1 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for a minute, stirring after to see if chips have melted. If not, microwave in increments of 30 seconds until completely melted.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking soda until combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs, sugar and oil and mix until combined for about 2 minutes. Add the water and the vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture to the wet mixture and melted chocolate chips and stir for about three minutes until combined.

Stir in one cup chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased, parchment lined, or a greased foil-lined 8×8 square pan. Bake for 35 minutes.

When finished, remove from oven and allow to cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Jessica says…

It is up to you what type of chocolate chips you would want to use, but do not use baking chocolate (which is without sugar). You can use semi-sweet, milk chocolate or dark chocolate based on the brownie you would like to achieve. I recommend semi-sweet since it is the best of both worlds. If you’d like a mix use semi-sweet for the base, and either milk or dark for the chips in the brownies.

Oil instead of butter in products tends to create a moister product. All you have to do is switch out equal parts of the butter for the oil.

To make this healthier, you could swap half off the oil with greek yogurt which will also make the product more moist, but I cannot guarantee that it will taste exactly the same.

Cake Batter Blondies With Chocolate Chip Cookie Crust

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

26 mins

Total Time

46 mins

Ingredients:

For Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

For Blondies

1 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)

2 large eggs

11/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup rainbow-coloured sprinkles, for batter

2 tablespoons rainbow-coloured sprinkles, for sprinkling top surface

Method:

For Crust

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Scrape down bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat for five seconds.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 375º F. Spread mixture into the bottom of the pan

Bake for 12-14 minutes until edges are golden brown.

For Blondies

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an nine-by-13-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 90 seconds. To the melted butter (allow it to cool slightly so you don’t scramble the egg), add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and whisk to combine.

Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or the bars will be tough. Fold in white and semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a combination of your favourite kinds of chips) and 1/4 cup (or more) sprinkles. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary. Sprinkle with about two tablespoons additional sprinkles for a nice visual pop of colour.

Pour over cookie crust, an bake for 24-26 minutes, or until centre is set and golden or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan, or a toothpick comes out clean; do not overbake. Allow blondies to cool completely in pan before slicing and serving, at least one hour.

Blondies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to three months.

Photos and recipes appear in Thursday Life courtesy of Jessica Hylton, attorney-at-law, food photographer and award-winning blogger at Jessica in the Kitchen.