Peanut Butter Heath Blondies

This is the first recipe that I have tried from my new Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and I have to say that I was underwhelmed. Actually, I've been underwhelmed by the entire book, which is pretty ironic considering I've had it on a my wish list of baking books for well over a year now.

One of the problems (well, I think it's a problem) was the size of the recipe. It makes a 12x18 inch jelly roll pans-worth of blondies and even my 6-quart kitchen aid was almost taken over by all that cookie dough. My other problem (easily remedied) was the lack of chocolate. In the recipe as it's written the only chocolate is in the chopped up Heath Bars that you sprinkle on top. I didn't have Heath Bars though, only the Hershey's toffee chips, so I added mini chocolate chips to the top of the bars. I also added an entire bag of bittersweet chocolate chips to the dough, but that's because of my love of chocolate and peanut butter.

When I brought the huge pan of cookies to work I figured I would either be bringing a lot of them home with me or leaving them for the team that relieved us in the morning (night shift this week 5 pm to 5 am). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were all gone -- crumbs and all -- by 11. Apparently the rest of my team was far more impressed with them than I was... It's not that they were bad of course, just that I've had better and easier blondies -- most notably the Smitten Kitchen Ultimate Blondies that I have made a dozen different times in a dozen different variations.




Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsps vanilla
3 cups flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt

Topping:
1 cup peanut butter chips
3 tbsps heavy cream
4 coarsely chopped Heath Bars or 1 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 325.

Grease and flour a 12 x 18 inch jelly roll pan

In a large bowl beat together the butter and peanut butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir until incorporated. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool to room temp.

To prepare the topping, melt the peanutbutter chips with the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Drizzle it over the cooled blondies, then sprinkle with the toffee bits and peanuts. (or chocolate chips) Cool completely before serving.