Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Cream Cheese Blondies

Adapted from: www.CulinaryConcoctionsByPeabody.com

I found myself searching blogs for something different to make (don't I always?). Once I saw this combination of pumpkin and blondie, I had to try it. WOW. I've made snickerdoodle blondies before, but this recipe is much better than the other one. Also from now on, whenever I make something that is cinnamon/sugary, I'm going to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the bottom of the pan, as called for in this recipe. It gave the bottom of the bars a crisp sweetness that just perfected the dessert.

INGREDIENTS

BLONDIE
8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup loosely packed light brown sugar
3 ounces Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
¾ tsp. cream of tarter
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Sugar for coating (about 1/3 cup)

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE FILLING
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup solid packed pumpkin
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 TBSP flour
½ cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch pan. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar and move pan around to make sure that the bottom and sides are coated. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cream of tartar. Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat for three minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
Add the Mascarpone cheese and beat until fully incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds. On low speed add the sifted flour mixture. Mix until fully incorporated.
Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. This will be hard as it is a thick batter. It may easiest to just wet your hands a little and press the batter into the pan. Then even it out afterwards with a spatula.
Using a clean bowl, cream together on medium high speed cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the pumpkin and beat another minute until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and egg, and beat until incorporated. Add pumpkin pie spice and flour and beat until incorporated.
Pour on top of snickerdoodle batter. The best you can swirl it around, they are very different consistencies and so this will be hard to do. Don’t worry, you aren’t trying to show the swirl, just get it in there. You might have to move some snickerdoodle batter back into place. Just press down with a spatula.
Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top of the batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, check your oven starting at around 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Blondies

So easy and really good! The original recipe said to bake for 45 minutes, but I would check on it at 40 minutes and take the blondies out at that time. I felt the pieces around the edge were drier than those in the middle...and I really like a nice gooey blondie! They made a perfect addition to our impromptu Super Bowl Party. As soon as I knew it, we were expecting 10 people over to our house and I needed to whip up something quick!

Adapted from: http://www.lesliesarna.com/

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I like kosher best)
About 8 oz. chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or a combo of both

DIRECTIONS
Grease a 8 x 8 inch pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, whisk together the butter and sugars until they are smooth. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Slowly stir in the flour and salt. Stir in the chips : ) and pour into the greased baking dish. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Apple Blondies with Maple Glaze

These taste like fall! They are so good that I'm adding them to my Thanksgiving dessert menu. I'm making a pumpkin pie (for the first time, can you believe that?) and some sort of chocolate cheesecake, but I love to have some type of bar and/or cookie. These are perfect. They were pretty easy to make too, which will be nice since I will be prepping our house for 17 people on Thanksgiving!

Adapted from: http://www.ellysaysopa.com/

INGREDIENTS
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
2/3 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
milk or cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8×8 pan.
Mix together the brown sugar and butter. Add the egg, vanilla and almond, whisking until just combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add that to the butter mixture, folding with a spatula at the end so as not to overmix. Fold in apples and walnuts. Pour the mixture into the baking dish, and smooth the top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle.
To make the glaze, combine the confectioners sugar and maple syrup, and drizzle in milk until you get the consistency you want. Drizzle over slightly cooled blondies.

Pumpkin Blondies

Perfect for fall baking! These Pumpkin Blondies were so good...I have to make them again (maybe for Thanksgiving or the Christmas Party?). I divided the batter in half and used butterscotch chips in one half and white chocolate chips in the other. My vote is for butterscotch, or a combination of the two. (1 cup of each mixed into the entire batter would be great!) The recipe also noted that you could use brown sugar or regular white sugar - I opted for brown sugar since white sugar tends to make recipes more crisp and I thought a blondie should be chewy. I'd be curious as to how they taste with regular white sugar though...maybe next time!

Adapted from: www.annies-eats.com

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups brown sugar (original recipe calls for regular sugar)
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
½ cup chopped, toasted nuts (optional - I omitted)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and butterscotch chips (and nuts, if using) with a rubber spatula.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.
To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off the foil and using a sharp knife, cut into 24 squares.

Peanut Butter Blondies

I was slightly disappointed with these....only because I expected to be the best thing I ever tasted! They were good, don't get me wrong, but I think I was expecting a more chewy blondie than the cookie-type that it actually was. I also cut back on some of the pb cups and pb chips because I thought it looked like a lot! However, if I try these again I would add the full amount. Actually, if I try these again I may use the "Blondies - Infinitely Adaptable" from Smitten Kitchen with PB cups, chocolate chips and pb chips....they had the buttery blondie taste I was looking for!

Adapted from: http://cookiesonfriday.blogspot.com/

INGREDIENTS
2 cup flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chopped peanut butter cups
1-1/2 cups peanut butter chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Additional peanut butter cups (about 20)

DIRECTIONS
Linea 9 x 13 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing the foil to hang over the sides of the pan, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a sized mixer bowl, stir together the melted butter and peanut butter. Whisk in the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the flour mixture. Stir in the chips and peanut butter cups. The dough will be thick and chunky. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and spread it in evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes; the bars are done when the dough is set and golden. Immediately after removing the bars from the oven, press as many peanut butter cups as you want into the surface of the blondies. Let the pan and bars cool completely on a cooling rack. Lift the cookies from the pan remove the foil and cut into bars.

Blondies, infinitely adaptable

I wanted to make something with pistachios, since my sister likes them and her graduation party is coming up. Since I like to test out recipes before serving them, I tried this blondie recipe with about 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips and crushed pistachios (I couldn't tell you how much...maybe 1/4 cup?) as well as a pistachio cookie recipe. The cookie recipe won out in this instance....I think this blondie recipe would be awesome with chocolate and peanut butter, and maybe some crushed peanut butter cups. These were very good and buttery, but I think the cookie was sweeter and also has oatmeal in it, so it gave more texture. I will be trying out this blondie recipe again with different mix-ins!

Adapted from: www.SmittenKitchen.com

INGREDIENTS
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Butter an 8×8 pan. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below). Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Further additions, use one or a combination of:
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

White Chocolate Gingerbread Blondies

Oh. My. God. Fabulous. These are the winner for the Christmas Party. They were so good and very holiday-esque. (Can you tell I'm obsessed with Gingerbread lately?) I even put the tree in the background of the picture for added effect ;) I almost didn't try them out, but as I was asking my husband's opinion on what to make he said "I love blondies!". Thank you, Dan. This recipe calls for a 17x12 pan, which I don't have and even if I did I didn't want 4 dozen bars if they were terrible. So, I made them in an 8x8 pan and made 1/3 of the recipe. I set the timer for 13 minutes (which wasn't enough) and kept checking every couple of minutes until they looked done. You don't want to overbake these - I think mine were slightly underbaked and they were very chewy! I will definitely be making these again (most likely in a 13x9 pan using half of the recipe).

Adapted from: http://www.marthastewart.com/

INGREDIENTS - Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch squares
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses (I used honey)
10 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
2. Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Another one of my experiments for the Christmas party but this also didn't win. These cookie bars are good, don't get me wrong. I've seen these on a few blogs before and they get rave reviews, which is maybe why I was slightly disappointed. I was thinking they were going to be the best thing I ever tasted! Worth making again though :)

Adapted from: http://www.beantownbaker.com/

INGREDIENTS - makes 30 bars
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish). I used my wet hands to spread the batter into the pan. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Apple Harvest Blondies

Wow, were these bars good! I wasn't expecting much from them, but they were fantastic. This was one of the apple recipes I tried on Thursday night, hoping to find something to add to the Thanksgiving desserts (or Christmas Party desserts...). I think I found it! They are from RecipeGirl.com

**Edit - I orignally made a small batch of these and loved them - they tasted very buttery. I made them a second time in a 13x9 pan and they were much thicker and cakey. Not bad, but I feel in love with them the first time and they didn't turn out quite the same the second! (Maybe my calculations were wrong the first time! I'll have to find out what that was...)

2/3 cup unsalted butter

2¼ cups packed brown sugar (divided)

3 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 medium apples, peeled and chopped

3 ounces cream cheese, frozen for 1 hour (I used more than 3 oz., probably 4)

2 ounces finely chopped pecans or walnuts (I omitted the nuts - not a fan of them in desserts!)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13×9-inch baking dish.
2. Melt butter in large microwave-safe bowl (just until melted). Remove from microwave and stir in 2 cups of brown sugar. Mix well, then add eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla. Mix just until combined. Fold in apples.
3. Spread batter into prepared dish. Chop cream cheese into small bits and mix with nuts, cinnamon and remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
4. Sprinkle over batter and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
Yield: About 24 blondies