Are you a brownie kinda person or do you mix things up by adding a blondie or bar into your baking rotation? If you stray from the chocolate side every now and again, you must try these!
Don’t get me wrong. I would probably be happy eating a great brownie every day of the week. But, there’s always been this love affair that I have for the caramelization that takes place with brown sugar in a chocolate chip cookie or a blondie/bar cookie. Especially the edges of a bar (I’ve always been partial to calling them “chews” rather than bar cookies, but that’s just me). Man, oh man, the edges that are just a little crisper and how they are so caramelized. Dang, you can’t go wrong!
I’ve been making these chews with different add-ins for a looong time. Whatever you happen to have on hand can be added in beautifully. Today’s include dried cherries left over from Christmas baking, white & dark chocolate chips, slivered almonds and chopped, toasted pecans. I’ve made them with dried blueberries and walnuts. With dark chocolate chips, toasted coconut and pecans. Really. Anything goes and they’re all good!
Chocolate Cherry Chew (Bar Cookie)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 2 sticks
- 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups a.p. flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups almonds sliced
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cherries chopped in half
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees
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Using the bowl of a stand mixer, cream softened butter with sugars until light in color, at least 4 minutes. Scrape the sides of your bowl.
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Add eggs, beating just until combined.
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Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then add to the beaten ingredients. Mix until combined. Scrape the sides of your bowl.
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Add vanilla and almond extract and mix only until they’re incorporated.
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Fold in your mix-ins.
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Grease a 9″x13″ pan. Spread your batter into the pan.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes, depending upon your oven’s temperature. You’re looking for golden brown with the edges a bit darker but not dark!
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Allow to cool in the pan, then cut into squares. These are rich so I cut them about 2″x2″. Freeze if you’re not going to eat the whole pan in 2-3 days.