Chai Spice Blondies

Our book club meets once a month where we discuss our book, drink far too much beer, and usually have a themed dessert to go along with everything. This month, we read "Erotic Stories for Punjabi Women"- I recommend by the way. Anyway, Chai was a prominent flavor in the book, so that's how these blondies came to be! This makes about 12 larger blondies or 16 smaller squares. 

For the Chai Spice: 

This was taken from Dessert for Two. I used ALL of it in the blondies- it is a bit potent, but I wasn't mad about it. Mix the following spices in a bowl and set aside:

1/2 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

For the Blondies:

3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 c brown sugar

3 eggs 

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 c chopped pistachios *I would do more than this next time; I only did this much because I accidentally bought the shell-on pistachios and started hating my life after shelling 1/4 c of them. Patience isn't my strong suit. 

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare an 8x8 inch pan with some nonstick spray and parchment paper. I leave a little parchment hanging off the sides so I can easily lift out of the pan. 

2. Melt butter in the microwave. Stir in the brown sugar. 

3. Once it's a little cooled off, stir in eggs one at a time, mixing between each to fully combine. Add vanilla. 

4. Add flour, chai spice, and salt to the wet mixture and mix well to combine. 

5. Add in pistachios. *I also think a little white chocolate might be nice in here. You do you, boo. 

6. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Again, I feel like this is a case where underdone is better than overdone. Think about brownies- you want some chew and goo in a blondie. 

Here's the book, by the way:

Snickerdoodle Cookies

It's holiday season, y'all, so that means snickerdoodle. I actually made this recipe over the summer and never wrote the blog post and every time I go to make snickerdoodle, I'm like damnit, where did I put that recipe, so here we are. It's perfect timing to get this out to anyone who needs a little cinnamon sugar love this time of year. Answer: we all need it. All of us. 

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

For the cookies: 

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 tsp salt

Cinnamon and sugar for rolling *I don't measure how much I put in a bowl.. I do like half a cup of sugar and maybe a tsp cinnamon? I just do it until I feel like I have enough cinnamon. Spoiler alert- a lot of cinnamon. 

1. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars. 

2. Add one egg at a time, mixing to incorporate. Add vanilla. 

3. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. 

4. Allow dough to chill in fridge for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F.

5. Scoop into balls (I use an ice cream scoop, but a spoon is fine too); roll them in your hand to form a ball and roll them in cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for about 8 -12 minutes. *I find that a little underdone is better than overdone. 

           

6. Turn on some holiday music and drown your COVID Christmas sorrows in cinnamon and sugar.