Coconut Bourbon Pecan Blondies

This is the other version of blondies that I have had on my mind since I made my initial crazy-loaded blondies a few weeks back. I found the original recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and loved it for it's versatility and the sheer ease of use.

I came home from a 12-hour day at work to find that Chris had just finished preparing my favorite meal in the whole wide world -- Thai green curry -- (have I mentioned he's the best boyfriend ever?) and that he was willing to help me bake some blondies that I wanted to make since he knew I wanted to bake, but was tired from a long day. So between the two of us we put these blondies together and had the batter ready to go long before the oven was done preheating. By the time we had the dishes done they were almost done baking and after a half hour rest in the fridge to cool them down some (they could have cooled longer I suppose) I cut into them for pictures and tasting.

Still warm from the oven the bourbon flavor was quite prominent, but we're pretty sure that it will settle down when they finish cooling completely. I also probably could have cut back some on the chocolate and been perfectly okay -- 1/2 a cup to 3/4 might have been a bit better proportion for this batch, but I'm a chocolate monster, so it worked out for me. This version was also very moist and dense, something that I had initially attributed to the bananas I included in the first batch, but now I believe it's simply the way the recipe is. The great news about that is that I happened to have one of the banana blondies 3 days after I made them, and it was still dense, moist and yummy.


Ingredients:
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour (if you omit the liquor, just use 1 cup flour)
1 cup coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8 x 8 pan (or double the recipe and use a 9 x13).

Mix the melted butter with the brown sugar -- beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until smooth. Next add the bourbon and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add the flour and salt and stir until incorporated. Add the chips and nuts until everything is mixed in. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I checked mine after 20, but they baked for about 25.