Walnut and Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Blondies are a girl's best friend. Well, maybe just my best friend--I won't speak on behalf of all girls. But they are so dang good. Chocolate? And butter? And brown sugar? You need to make these. Like, yesterday.

They taste pretty similar to chocolate chip cookies, which is thanks to all that brown sugar. That delicious, glorious brown sugar. But they're not cookies; they're bars. And they are SO so moist. Just to add a little extra crunch and deliciousness, walnuts are also tossed into the mix. You can leave those out if you really want to, but I love 'em in there. Just in case you need to hear it again, these bad boys are SO stinkin' good. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 (11.5 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. 

With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well, scraping down the bowl. 

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and with the mixer still on low, slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. 

Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chunks with a rubber spatula.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes exactly. Don't overbake! A toothpick may not come out clean. Cool completely in the pan and cut into bars.

Source: Adapted from Ina Garten