Salty and Woke Blondie- Brown Butter Espresso Blondies

I'm definitely a coffee person. I drink it black and can have about 3 cups a day, no problem. But one thing I cannot handle, is coffee in my baked goods. People swear up and down that coffee and chocolate is a marriage that is blessed in heaven and every single person should be making espresso flavored chocolate everything but I cannot get behind it. 

I mean theoretically, I'm all for it! Yet another way for me to ingest the deep brown deliciousness that fuels my mornings but then I taste it and there is no part of me that wants to continue eating that rich piece of chocolate cake, or brownie or even chicken with coffee rub. It's just NOPE 

So why, do you ask, am I putting a recipe for espresso blondies on my page?

Well, its because my little sister, the communications major, has just landed her very own Radio show at Brooklyn College. The title, is Salty and Woke (which had to be explained to me repeatedly as the millennial way of saying sarcastic and up to date on the current politics of the globe) She uses the medium to discuss popular political topics, favorite songs and current events. I'M SO PROUD OF HER! It is so hard for an orthodox Jewish woman to make strides in the media world and I give her a lot of credit for going for it!

So, in order to support her in the way I know best, I created this recipe for her. Yes, it's salty, and its also woke- because of the coffee inside, get it?! Also, they are blondies, because my sister is a blondie and also blondies are delicious. See what I do because I love my sister? I actually put aside my disdain and created these blondies that have so much goodness, even I enjoy them! 

But just in case you are like me who absolutely hates espresso in baked good and needs some other motivation to make these, here's some other goodness in these blondies: 

• delicious melty chocolate chunks that can be melted throughout or left delicious and chocolatey 
• brown butter!! - yeah that needs no extra promoting
• malted milk powder to accentuate those caramelized butter tastes, tone down the coffee and also faintly remind you of a whopper
• also, the subtle notes of coffee  running through here are just enough to show up if you appreciate these things and give you a nice little reminder of a very chic coffee shop
• cafffffinnnnneeeee
• flaky salt which keeps sweet from tasting too sweet and just makes everything so much better 

Salty and Woke airs from 7-8 pm on Thursday evening and is the perfect thing to listen to as your making Shabbat dinner. It's also a lot more entertaining than the news because my sister like to slip in her opinions in here and there. 

anyway, check out her show because shes awesome and also stay salty, stay woke friends

Salty and Woke Blondies 

Brown Butter- Espresso Blondies

Adapted from @food52

·       2sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter

·       1 tablespoon espresso powder

·       2cups all-purpose flour

·       2 tablespoons malted milk powder or milk powder (or for a pareve version)

·       1heaping teaspoon kosher salt

·       2eggs

·       1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract

·       1 ½ cups dark brown sugar (light brown is a good second choice)

·       1cup bittersweet chocolate chips

·       flaked salt for sprinkling

1.    Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Swirl it around a few times. It will foam and spatter. After 3 to 4 minutes, it will start to smell nutty. Don’t walk away. It’s ready when the sizzling quiets down and you see little brown bits drop to the bottom of the pan. Pour into a large bowl. Add the espresso powder and mix in until integrated. Cool completely (about 30 minutes). Alternatively, if you want a blondie marbled with chocolate, cool butter for only 5 minutes and proceed with the recipe. The warm dough will melt the chocolate chips a bit.

2.    Heat oven to 350° F. Prepare your 8 by 8-inch baking pan with butter and flour, parchment paper, or aluminum foil (I find foil to be the easiest: just press it into the pan with a little overhang, no need to grease). Set aside.

3.    Whisk together flour, milk powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

4.    Add brown sugar to the cooled butter. Mix with a wooden spoon for about a minute.

5.    Add egg/vanilla mixture to butter/sugar mixture. Mix until combined and shiny, about 20 seconds.

6.    Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix until there are still a few pockets of flour visible. Add chocolate chips. Mix until evenly distributed and all flour pockets are gone, but be careful not to over-mix! Spoon dough into your prepared baking pan. Spread evenly with the back of your wooden spoon (it will keep its shape). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. You can’t do the toothpick test with this because it always comes out clean. Instead, look for a crispy top that's just starting to crack. Firm slightly-browned edges. And when you press on the center, you don’t want it to feel really soft. Don't stress. You can always throw it back in later. Just know that once it's cool, it will firm up quite a bit. And once frozen, it is dreamy in all forms.

7.    Remove from the oven. Cool completely before removing from the pan. The blondie block should pop right out (either pull out by parchment/alumninum foil or if in a greased pan, just invert onto a cutting board and carefully flip it back over). Cut into desired portion sizes. These keep for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container. Or you can freeze them for a few months.