Cherry Pineapple Blondies

I intended to do considerably more baking last month and now I have holiday-style ingredients leftover, like candied fruits for stuff like fruitcake.  Since I'm eating stollen for breakfast, I needed something different for tea snack.  This recipe was on the back of the lid, and I cut it in half for posting on this site.

I'm not sure what I was expecting these to taste like, but I had completely forgotten that I don't like fruit and chocolate together.  The cookie dough recipe is excellent, and I'll probably use that part again with some butterscotch chips I found in the chip box.  The addition of chopped nuts and/or coconut would work if you like that in your cookies.

I made these in cupcake liners like the note at the bottom of the recipe suggested for individual servings, then ate the three in the photo before they were cool.  I was cutting this in half and was not sure what size pan to use.  Plus, I have a lot of cupcake liners.  The original recipe did not include how much to fill each liner, so I just made 18 (original was 36).  It was roughly halfway, and they came out very soft and fully cooked all the way through.

I'm also presenting a simplified, one-bowl method of mixing the dough.  For many recipes, you do need a wet team and a dry team, but cookies come together so easily that the extra step just makes more work.  And speaking of work, the original recipe sneaked in that you have to chop the fruit at the very end.  I should have read the recipe more thoroughly before starting, but they could have arranged their method for people in the real world.

1-1/4 C flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C brown sugar, packed
6 Tb butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
*1/2 C chocolate chips
*8 oz candied cherries and pineapple

1.  Chop candied fruit the same size as the chocolate chips.  Prepare 2 muffin pans with 18 paper liners.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream together the butter and brown sugar.  Beat in egg and vanilla until creamy and thoroughly mixed.

3.  Beat in baking powder and salt for about 30 seconds, to make sure they are evenly distributed.  Add flour gradually and beat into a uniform cookie dough.

4.  Stir in chips and fruit pieces.  Spoon into cupcake liners about half full.  Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate pans.  Start checking for doneness at 15 minutes.  They should be lightly golden and not gooey in the middle.  Mine were in for about 20 minutes.

5.  Remove pans from oven and let sit 2 minutes, until cool enough to remove the liners from the pans without burning yourself.  Cool blondies on wire racks.  Can be served with or without the cupcake liners.

Makes 18

Difficulty rating  π