Ultimate Tailgating Treat: Blondies with Dark Chocolate

The other night, I decided to make my specialty blondies (aka brown sugar brownies) with dark chocolate to take to the UW football season opener. Really, they could almost pass as a health food with the inclusion of 72% Belgian dark chocolate.

This was the second time I made the blondies, and they definitely were a crowd pleaser at tailgating! It definitely received Joe’s stamp of approval, so girls, definitely make these for your boyfriend. He’ll love you forever. ♥

I found the recipe on Allrecipes, of course. That’s my very favorite recipe site! I urge you to check it out anytime you’re looking for a recipe for any food imaginable.

The blondies were very slightly adapted from this recipe: Brown Sugar Brownies. Instead of using chopped walnuts, I included one serving of Trader Joe’s 72% Dark Chocolate (3 pieces). The first time I made these, I had on hand Dove Dark Chocolate (5 pieces). Both are around the same caloric content.

Here’s the recipe that I used:

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes’ Brown Sugar Brownies

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (instead of this, I used a serving of TJ’s 72% dark chocolate)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 x 9 x 1-3/4 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 and the nuts (in this case, the chocolate instead of walnuts) until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Note: I cut this into 25 squares for a total of around 94 calories, 13g carbs, 4g fat, and 1g protein per serving.

The Before (I’m sure that the raw dough would’ve tasted just like cookie dough! Unfortunately, not a big fan of raw dough):

Look at how delicious this looks pre-bake! Chopping up just three squares of dark chocolate is the perfect amount.

These blondies are absolutely delicious and purely decadent. The deep and rich taste of caramel from the brown sugar makes for a great alternative to the traditional chocolate brownie. This is the perfect treat to bring to tailgating, parties, the office, and more. Try it and you won’t regret it!

Oh, and while I was baking these treats, our puppy was sleeping like a little angel in her bed. Although, not sure that her position would’ve been that comfortable. Hmm..