Basic Blondies

I love reading other people's blogs, I really do. And I mentioned how much I love Tastespotting (and now FoodGawker too). Seriously. I check them daily. I know, I might be a smidge obsessed.

I've found a lot of awesome food blogs I might have never found otherwise! One I'm really in love with is Annie's Eats. This is a girl after my own heart with some of the recipes she's posted. I made one today from her blog, and it is insanely awesome, and simple. And you can do it all in one bowl! No muss, no fuss! Husband will be so pleased, I haven't made a holy mess of the kitchen while baking!

Also, I think I actually managed to line my pan, for the first time ever, without actually tearing the aluminum foil. That always seems to happen to me! But not today! My baking mojo must really be flowing. So without further ado, here is the awesome recipe, slightly adapted.

Basic Blondies
Source: Annie's Eats
Printer-friendly recipe

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Mix-ins of your choice (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave (slowly, you don't want any butter explosions!). Allow to cool for 5 minutes. In the bowl of the electric mixer, mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla. Add the salt, flour and baking powder and mix until just combined. Stir in your choice of mix-ins with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread to level out the top nicely.
3. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until well set in the middle. Allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares and wrapping well.

Some mix-in suggestions:
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semisweet), peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pecans)
1/2 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup chopped Reese's peanut butter cups
1/4 cup Heath toffee pieces
1/2 teaspoon mint extract, in addition to or in place of the vanilla extract

Seriously, this is the kind of recipe you can whip up super fast, and you more than likely have all of the ingredients at home, so print this one out and put it in a safe place. I definitely recommend it!

Oh, and BTW, I'm totally still sore. I stretched yesterday for a bit after my upper body workout with my trainer, but I'm still walking kind of like a pregnant lady because I feel like I can't totally straighten my legs. I'm sure it's super attractive. Happy Friday!