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healthier blondies

"Whole Lotta Love" Whole Grain Blondies

This is a great recipe and well worth sharing. It's a healthier twist on the classic blondie. Some of the butter is replaced with canola oil saving a few grams of saturated fat, and the flour is whole wheat pastry, which means more fiber, more staying power. And here's another plus: baking the dough in one big pan rather than portioning it out like cookies is a time saver.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter , softened to room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons gently packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ½ cups dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with parchment paper so it drapes over two sides.
  2. In an electric mixer, beat the butter, canola oil, sugar, and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, stir together the pastry flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix until smooth.
  4. Add the chocolate chips, walnuts and cranberries and beat until just combined.
  5. Scoop the dough into the baking pan and press until it spreads evenly covering the entire bottom of the pan. It might help to put a piece of parchment on top of the dough and press down to spread the dough out.
  6. Bake until golden brown all over, 20 minutes.
  7. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Use the two sides of the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into squares. Store in an air-tight container or freeze in a ziplock bag.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from a recipe by Breanne Varela. Published in Food and Wine, March 2011.