New York-Style Crumb Cake

I was all set to tell you about soup today but then I went and baked this crumb cake yesterday and the plan changed.  The cake was so good I didn't want to wait another day to share it so it promptly jumped ahead in line.  But let's back up for just a minute... Over the weekend I stopped in at Border's with one of those oh so dangerous 40% off coupons they email me weekly.  I tried to exercise restraint, and I guess I sort of did since I only walked out with one book :)  I picked up Baked Explorations, the follow-up to Baked - the book that introduced the famous Baked brownie that is loved by so many.  A friend stopped by the day after I bought the book and as she was sitting on my couch flipping through it, she highlighted this crumb cake.  Honestly, I would have completely skipped over the recipe in favor of something with chocolate or citrus had she not pointed it out to me.  I flagged the page, and when Kayte, Jeannette and I decided to bake something together yesterday, I suggested the crumb cake.  They indulged me and we got to work! 



I think that for most people the crumb topping on the crumb cake is the real draw, and if you fall into that group, you won't be disappointed in this recipe.  The authors described the topping as "outrageously thick" and they weren't kidding.  Not only is the crumb layer substantial, but even more critically, it emerges from the oven the same way it went in - with large chunks of crumbs that hold their shape rather than melt into the cake during the baking process.  I sampled the cake batter once (or twice or three times) before I transferred it to the pan so I already knew it would be delicious, but the texture of the cake turned out great too - incredibly tender and moist.  As Kayte said, it almost melts in your mouth.  I had my first piece about 30 minutes after I pulled the cake from the oven and I knew my second, third and fourth wouldn't be far behind if I didn't get this out of the house quickly.  My mom was happy to take half of the cake (she loved it too!) and I'll be sharing the other half with my dear friend who definitely knows how to pick a recipe :)



New York-Style Crumb Cake
from Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis & Renalto Poliafito

Crumb Topping
 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted (and still warm)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.  A glass pan is recommended, but metal works too - your edges may be a little more crispy if you bake in metal.

To make the crumb topping: Whisk the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.  Add the melted butter and whisk to combine.  Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour - you'll have to use a little elbow grease to work in the final bits.

To make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, letting the first incorporate fully before adding the second.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for an additional 30 seconds.  Add the sour cream and vanilla to the mixer and beat until just incorporated.  Finally, add the flour mixture in thirds, beating just until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan.  The batter will be thick - just use a spatula to spread it evenly.  Pick up the crumb topping by handfuls, and break off chunks, scattering them over the top of the batter.  Use all of the topping - it will be a very thick layer! 

Bake for 45-55 minutes (rotating the pan at 15 minute intervals), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie was selected by Jill of My Next Life: corniest corn muffins.  These muffins are serious rule breakers at my house for a few reasons.  Generally speaking, I don't try TWD recipes until they're selected for the group, but Jessica recommended them to me earlier this winter and she spoke so highly of the recipe that I made it that very night.  Also, I've mentioned several times that I rarely make the same recipe twice where baked goods are concerned; there are simply too many recipes I want to try.  But these muffins?  Every single time I've made chili this winter (and make no mistake, we've eaten a lot of chili!), these muffins have been served on the side.  They're that good - I see no reason to look any further for a go-to cornbread!   



I don't want to get into the debate over sweet versus unsweetened cornbread.  Suffice it to say I love sugar, and I pretty much require it in my cornbread.  There is sugar in Dorie's recipe, but I don't think the muffins are overly sweet.  The only modification I make to the recipe is to eliminate the corn kernels.  There's no way Shane would touch these muffins if I included corn, but honestly, it's not just him.  I don't want corn kernels in my cornbread either, or any mix-ins for that matter.  I think Dorie suggests baking the muffins for 15-18 minutes, but 12 minutes is always perfect for me.  The muffins are moist and fluffy, and I love that they always dome perfectly in the oven :)  I've frozen them numerous times and I think they're just as good defrosted and re-warmed for a few minutes in the oven as they were the day they were baked.   



Many thanks to Jill for hosting this week!  In case you haven't guessed, this just might be my very favorite creation from Dorie's book.  Jill will share the recipe on her blog today, or you can find it on page 4 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

To say that I love sprinkles would be an understatement.  Chocolate sprinkles were always my favorite growing up, but I've come to enjoy the rainbow version recently too.  To keep the situation in check, I pretty much only allow myself to have sprinkles with ice cream.  Whether we're at home or out at the ice cream parlor, I always drown my ice cream in loads of sprinkles!  I guess I'm secretly a 5-year old at heart :)

Anyway, given my love of sprinkles, it's probably not terribly surprising that funfetti cake was among my first choices as a kid.  If you've never had funfetti, it's basically just a white cake with rainbow sprinkles mixed into the batter.  The sprinkles melt in the oven so you're left with dots of color throughout your cake.  To the best of my recollection, the cake was usually topped with a vanilla frosting and then garnished with additional sprinkles.  I can't even remember the last time I had funfetti cake from a box, but I've been eager to try this homemade version for a while.  I just needed the right occasion...   



Fortunately, a perfect opportunity presented itself over the weekend - Shane had some friends over to play Rock Band, and I knew I could count on them to help eat the cupcakes.  This white cake recipe is a bit unusual.  Most cakes call for creaming the butter and sugar together, adding eggs and then alternating dry and liquid ingredients, but here the dry ingredients plus the sugar are mixed, the butter is cut in until the mixture is sandy, and finally the eggs and liquid ingredients are added.  As a result, the cupcakes bake up with a really lovely light, fluffy texture.  They are fairly sweet (thanks to the amount of sugar in the recipe as well as the added touch of sweetness from the sprinkles), but no one here complained.  Just a few hints - don't overfill the wells of the cupcake pans (1/2 to 2/3 at most).  It's a bad habit of mine and I'm glad I didn't do it with these as they do rise quite a bit and there's nothing worse than cake batter all over the bottom of your oven.  Also, the site where I found the original recipe notes that the rod-shaped sprinkles melt best in the batter; you probably won't have as much luck with the round, ball-shaped sprinkles.          



As for the frosting, once I decided on vanilla, it was simply a matter of choosing from among the many recipes out there.  Bridget over at The Way the Cookie Crumbles is famous for her comparison posts and I was psyched to find a vanilla frosting comparison there.  Her favorite was an easy buttercream from Cook's Illustrated that had been among my contenders so I ran with it.  The recipe calls for just a few ingredients - butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, heavy cream and salt - and once whipped together, the frosting has the perfect fluffy consistency.  Another bonus?  It pipes like a dream.  I made 1/2 of the recipe below but if you like to mound your frosting on your cupcakes I'd recommend making 3/4.  Mmmm, delicious nostalgia indeed!  



Funfetti Cupcakes
from Baking Bites

1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk the milk, egg whites, vanilla and almond extracts together in a measuring cup.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed briefly to combine.  Cut the butter into 6 pieces and add them to the mixer bowl.  Mix on low speed until the mixture is coarse and sandy.  Add milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl and continue beating for 20-30 seconds.  Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared pan - I wouldn't fill them more than 1/2 - 2/3 full, the cupcakes rise quite a bit in the oven.  Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Quick Vanilla Buttercream
from Cook's Illustrated

2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Stir the heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt together in a small bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar a little at a time until it is completely incorporated and the mixture is smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl then beat in the heavy cream mixture.  Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

The frosting can be made a few days ahead and refrigerated.  When you are ready to use it, let it come to room temperature and then beat briefly.

Makes 3 cups of frosting

Lemon Bars

That giant bowl of lemons?  Major impulse purchase.  Shane rarely has to worry about me coming home with expensive shoes or bags, but there's no telling what might happen when I'm unleashed in the grocery store, or at the farmer's market.  I don't know why I thought I needed so many lemons, but once I got them home I was determined not to let a single one go to waste.

I baked a cake with a few of them almost immediately (to be shared here soon) and then the remaining lemons just sat in the bowl on the counter looking pretty for about a week.  I couldn't decide what else to make, so until I came up with a plan, I decided to juice and zest every single remaining lemon.  I poured the lemon juice into ice cube trays which went into my freezer along with the huge pile of zest - I think I'm all set for a while! :)



 

I was finally inspired by a recipe my friend Leslie shared last week for lemon bars.  Not just any old lemon bars, but the most vibrantly colored lemon bars I've ever seen.  Once I read the recipe it became clear why the bars were so bright - there are 7 egg yolks plus 2 whole eggs in the filling!  This recipe differs from other lemon bars I've tried in that the filling is cooked on the stove before it is poured onto the crust and baked.  This cuts down on the baking time and also ensures that the crust stays crisp.  The whole process is really easy, I'd note just one thing - the recipe calls for cooking the filling until it reaches 170 F, but mine never got above 162 or 163 F so I just moved on and it all worked out.           



Up until a few years ago I was convinced I didn't like lemon desserts and it kills me to think of all the delicious things I missed out on.  I'm firmly in the lemon lover camp now, though, and these lemon bars are certainly a new favorite here.  The filling is beyond delicious - the richest, most creamy lemon curd I've ever had.  It's loaded with lemon flavor and neither overly tart nor sweet.  The shortbread crust is both tender and crisp, a great base for the curd.  I wasn't able to give away as many of the bars as I wanted, so I had to stick them in my freezer because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation.  The only problem is now I feel compelled to bake other lemon bar recipes too.  For research purposes, of course :)



Lemon Bars
from Baking Illustrated

Crust
1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 oz) confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened & cut into 1-inch pieces

Filling
7 large egg yolks, plus 2 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 7/8 oz) sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup lemon zest
pinch salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
3 tablespoons heavy cream

To make the crust: Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  Line the pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on opposite sides to lift the bars out after they've baked.  Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray.

Add the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt to the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Add the butter and process to blend, about 8-10 seconds.  Pulse just a few more times, until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal.  Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan and use the tips of your fingers to press it into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes.

While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Bake the crust for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the crust bakes, make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and eggs together until combined.  Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and fragrant.  Add the sugar to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.  Finally, add the lemon juice and salt and whisk until all ingredients are blended.

Transfer the filling to a medium saucepan and add the butter.  Stirring continuously, cook over medium-low heat until the curd thickens slightly and registers 170 F on an instant-read thermometer.  Pour the curd through a strainer into a medium heatproof bowl.  Add the heavy cream and stir to combine.  Pour the filling over the warm crust (this is important - you don't want to let the crust cool before adding the filling).

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the filling is shiny and the center jiggles just slightly when shaken.  Remove the pan to a wire rack and cool completely.  Use the foil to lift the bars out of the pan and cut into squares.  Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Chicken Tikka Masala

It's been one of those weeks here where dinner is a struggle every night.  All too often, I've found myself scrambling at 4:30 pm to dig something out of our freezer, get it defrosted and come up with a plan.  In case you're wondering, my favorite last-minute dinner is roasted chicken thighs - I just set them in a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over them and season with salt and pepper before cooking (which, at 425 F, happens pretty darn quickly).  While they're in the oven I can prepare the sides, and dinner usually comes together in less than an hour.  I've never heard Shane say disappointedly "chicken thighs, again??" but it goes without saying that we'd both benefit from some menu planning.  Maybe I'll start slowly, with just one or two meals a week, as 5 seems a bit overwhelming.  Under that theory, this week was a success, as I did plan for this chicken tikka masala ahead of time!               



As I mentioned last week, I've only made chicken tikka masala once before (about 3 years ago).  I tried a different recipe this time, one from the folks at Cook's Illustrated, and while I obviously don't have much basis for comparison, we loved it - a definite repeat!  It was surprisingly easy to put together too.  The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, which is always a bonus.  As for the chicken, it's actually cooked under the broiler, which I was admittedly skeptical about, but it worked like a charm.  A yogurt mixture coats the chicken and protects it from the heat of the broiler so the inside can cook before the outside is burned.  I'd just note that if your chicken pieces are really thick, as mine were, you might need to broil them a few minutes longer than the recipe suggests.  The sauce had just a slight kick to it; if you like more heat include some (or all) of the ribs and seeds from your chile.  We made homemade naan again to accompany the chicken, and it was the perfect tool for scooping the extra sauce from our plates.  

Chicken Tikka Masala
from Cook's Illustrated

Chicken
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt (I used nonfat but the recipe suggests whole milk yogurt)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, minced (ribs and seeds removed)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I used parsley instead)

To prep the chicken: Mix the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of the chicken.  Put the chicken on a plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.  Whisk the yogurt, vegetable oil, garlic and ginger together in a wide bowl.  You'll use this to coat the chicken later before cooking - set aside for now.

To make the sauce: Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large Dutch oven set over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, serrano chile, tomato paste and garam malasa.  Cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly.  Stir in the crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt then bring the sauce to a boil.  Reduce the heat so your sauce is simmering and cover the pan.  Let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring a few times.  Add the heavy cream, stir to combine and bring the sauce back to a simmer (uncovered).  Take the pan off of the heat and cover to keep warm.  (You can also make the sauce ahead - just refrigerate it once it cools slightly then rewarm when you want to serve.)

To cook the chicken:  Position an oven rack about 6 inches from your broiler and preheat the broiler.  Set a wire rack inside of a foil-lined baking sheet.  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and dip each piece in the yogurt mixture.  You want a relatively thick layer coating the chicken.  Transfer the chicken to the wire rack.  Broil the chicken until it is cooked through (to an internal temperature of 160 F), about 10-18 minutes, flipping the chicken over halfway through the cooking time.  (The cooking time will depend in large part on the thickness of your chicken pieces.)  Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then cut it into 1-inch pieces and add to the warm sauce.  Add the cilantro to the sauce as well and season to taste before serving.

Hot Buttered Pretzels

I never do all of my grocery shopping at just one store; I usually have the time to visit a few different stores to get the best deals so I do.  I also shop at a local warehouse club since we have the room in our basement to store items in bulk.  It's a great place to stock up on 10 lb bags of sugar and flour so I can keep churning out the goodies you see here :)  The highlight of my stop at the warehouse club, though, is always the soft pretzel I treat myself to.  They're extra chewy and the coarse salt sprinkled over them is delicious!  I almost never go to the mall so my warehouse club pretzel is sort of my substitute for those mall pretzels that are so popular.  It's the little things, right?   



I do made pretzels at home from time to time and this recipe is by far my favorite of the ones I've tried.  It's fairly similar to many other recipes but I think it's slightly faster and easier.  Unlike most pretzel recipes, this one doesn't call for boiling the pretzels before baking - instead they're just dipped in a baking soda solution.  The dough is a cinch to put together too - I prefer to make it in my food processor because it only takes about 2 minutes but if you don't have a food processor you could also do it in a stand mixer, bread machine, or by hand.  I've only included the food processor instructions below, but you can follow the link to King Arthur Flour's site below for details on the other methods. 

The pretzels emerge from the oven having developed a nice golden brown color, and then, to take them over the top, they're brushed (liberally!) with melted butter.  I love these pretzels so much I never allow myself to make the full recipe because I know I won't be able to resist eating them all!  They have the perfect soft, chewy texture and while so far I've only made them with the butter and salt topping, I know they'd be delicious with a cinnamon sugar topping if that's more your thing. I still love the warehouse club pretzels, but when I want a homemade version this is my go-to!

Hot Buttered Pretzels
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup warm water (about 100 F)

Topping
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Add the flour, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.  Pour the water through the feed tube, then process for 7-10 seconds, or until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl.  Process the dough for 45 seconds - you should have a soft, slack dough that's somewhat tacky.  Remove the dough from the bowl of the food processor, shape it into a ball and coat it with flour.  Put the dough in a large resealable plastic bag.  Seal the bag, but don't press out the air - you want to leave room for the dough to expand.  Let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 F.   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces (about 70 g each).  Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, add 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda to a small bowl and whisk until the baking soda is completely dissolved.

Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into a long, thin rope (between 25 and 30 inches long).  Shape each rope into a pretzel by making a U-shape and then twisting the ends of the rope over one another and pressing them onto the bottom of the U-shape (see illustration here).  Dip each pretzel in the baking soda solution, flipping the pretzel if necessary to make sure the whole thing is coated, then place them on the prepared baking sheets.  Sprinkle the pretzels lightly with coarse salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 8-9 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the baking sheets at the halfway point.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush all of the melted butter evenly over them.  The pretzels are best when warm but can be reheated in the microwave.

Makes 8 pretzels (the recipe halves perfectly too if you want a smaller yield)

Snickerdoodle Blondies

I've been craving snickerdoodles for weeks now.  For me, that's a completely bizarre craving.  I'm not much of a cookie person, and on the rare occasion when I do want cookies it's generally chocolate chip.  I can probably count on one hand how many times I've made snickerdoodles so they're not exactly a favorite around here.  But for whatever reason, I haven't been able to get them off my mind lately.  Too bad I couldn't get motivated to actually make them - I guess I was expecting them to just magically show up on my doorstep :) 



Finally, when I realized that wasn't going to happen, I started scouring Google for a recipe and that's when I found snickerdoodle blondies.  Perfect!  All the snickerdoodle goodness I was craving without the hassle of baking sheet after sheet of cookies.  If we ever decide to sell our house, this is the recipe I want baking when potential buyers stop by.  These blondies are truly one of the most fragrant goodies I've ever baked - I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't fall in love with their warm, cinnamon-y aroma.  The dough is sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar before baking, and when the blondies emerge they have the perfect crackly topping, which yields to the tender cookie below.  They're super easy to throw together and I always have these ingredients on hand, so the next time a snickerdoodle craving strikes here I'll be prepared!

Snickerdoodle Blondies
as seen on Brown Eyed Baker (originally from Dozen Flours, I think)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir the dough one final time with a rubber spatula to ensure any flour on the bottom of the bowl is incorporated.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan. Spread in an even layer - I like to use my fingertips to spread the dough. I just put a piece of plastic wrap between my fingers and the the dough so it won't be too sticky. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the surface of the blondies springs back when gently pressed. Remove the pan to a wire rack and let the blondies cool completely before cutting.