Magnolia Monday: Blondie Bars with Cream Cheese Swirl
Amy Faries • Mar 03, 2020
Chewy and sweet blondie bars topped with a yummy cream cheese layer to satisfy any sweet tooth!
A not so nutty Monday
I want to start this Magnolia Monday off by saying I really was going to use pecans this week in my recipe (for the past couple of Mondays I have been omitting any sort of nuts from my baking). Much to my dismay, both batches of my toasted pecans burnt and I had completely run out of them. I followed the directions perfectly AND made sure my new oven thermometer was attached (Which is absolutely amazing by the way!). I set the oven to 350 degrees and popped the pecans in for 15 minutes. When I pulled them out they were burnt to a crisp, so for the next batch I stuck with the same temperature but only kept them in for 7 minutes. Guess what happened? They of course burnt as well. No sir was I going to go out to the store with a toddler just to grab some pecans. So nuts were completely taken out of the recipe surely for convenience and my sanity.
I have come to learn that Magnolia Bakery really loves to add nuts to a large portion of their sweet treats. I'm assuming they love the nutty smoky flavor different toasted nuts bring to a dish but also offer a great texture. I tend to be very cautious when choosing to add nuts into my baked goods. I know a lot of people who are severely allergic to nuts, so I always make sure everyone knows that certain things I make are NOT nut free and that they should not partake unfortunately.
This week Lily actually let me bake without screaming auntie every 5 seconds! Little victories people, little victories! It was mainly due to the fact that I set her up on the couch with Vampirina on the TV and a nice bowl of Trader Joe's cheddar rockets to keep her company. Sometimes you need to just feed a hangry toddler and let her watch her favorite show in order to be able to bake in piece. Love my little squish to pieces though!
Critique
I do have to say that these blondie bars were very sweet but very tasty. Next time I would love to add a little something extra like a drizzle of some sort that would balance the super sweet taste. I would also suggest to not only butter your dish but lay parchment down so that your edges don't brown too too much. I forgot this step, so my edges came out a little crispier than I had hoped. The texture of these bars is perfect however. They have a nice chew to them without being too sticky or fudgy. I added some sprinkles to my bars and tinted the cream cheese orange for a little extra festive pizazz!
Make sure to purchase your Magnolia Bakery book, so you can follow along week after week and make these recipes yourself!
This 2019 trend for cupcakes is fun and easy to make! Store bought waffle cones filled with vanilla cake and edible cookie dough all dipped in pink candy melts and topped with smooth swiss meringue buttercream.