Monday, April 26, 2010

Blondes have WAY more fun!

Baked goods and pastries are my arch nemesis. Brownies, especially, are my weakness. This past weekend I had some of my best girlfriends over for our monthly girls night and I decided to mix up the traditional brownie dessert recipe and whip up some delicious blondies!

I found this recipe after a quick google search and adapted it accordingly. I served it with vanilla bean ice cream + homemade caramel sauce (a post for another day!).

Enjoy :)

Butterscotch Walnut Blondies
(adapted from SimplyRecipes)



1 cup of butter, melted
2 cups of tightly packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of butterscotch chips
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 9x13 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins.

Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

One of my favorite snack foods...

... is a big soft pretzel. Preferably with a side of honey mustard to dunk it in. Clearly, this isn't exactly a healthy snack but thanks to my friend Katy and her find in the Hungry Girl 1-2-3 Cookbook, I was able to include my love of pretzels + honey mustard into this evenings dinner!

I adapted the recipe slightly and have included the adaptations below. The result was a very tasty chicken finger that didn't even need a dunking sauce and is moderatley good for you!

Enjoy :)


Pretzel Coated Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers

(adapted from Hungry Girl 1-2-3 cookbook)


3 tbsp clover honey

3 tbsp grainy mustard

2 egg whites

1 pound boneless chicken tenderloins

2 dashes salt

2 dashes black pepper

8 ounces hard salted pretzels,finely crushed

2 packets of Splenda (any sugar substitute will do)



Preheat oven to 350 F


Mix honey, mustard and egg whites together in a small bowl.


Season chicken strips with salt and pepper and then submerge in the mustard-egg mixture. Set aside to marinate for at least 5 minutes (I let mine marinate for 8 hours).


Mix crushed pretzels with Splenda and spread mixture out on a plate. Spray a baking rack with nonstick spray.


Thoroughly coat chicken strips with the pretzel mixture, and then transfer to the baking rack sheet. (Discard excess mustard-egg mixture.) Mist the tops of the strips with nonstick spray.


Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.