Dark Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

Growing up, I never experienced the wonders that are blondies, as my mother is allergic to dairy. Not lactose intolerant, but tongue will swell, airways will close, deathly allergic to dairy. The most important ingredient in blondies being butter, they were not a dessert my mother baked.

After having my first blondie at Penn, however, I was hooked. The rich, butterscotch-like flavor blended with intermittent bites of chocolate was the dessert my mouth was searching for. I felt like, for the first time, a dessert truly understood me. I had met my soulmate.

…Okay, maybe it wasn’t that intense, but the blondie was delicious and it has since become one of my favorite desserts. One of the great things I’ve come to love about blondies is that they serve as a great base for experimentation by adding your favorite accents, like walnuts or candied ginger. As my favorite accents at the moment are chocolate and blueberries, I knew blondies would serve as the perfect base.

This recipe, adapted from Joy the Baker yields nine decadent blondies oozing with dark chocolate and sweet blueberries.

Here’s what you’ll need

1/2 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 bar Newman’s Own Organics Dark Chocolate, 54% cocoa (or 64g of your favorite dark chocolate)
1 bar Newman’s Own Organics Espresso Dark Chocolate, 54% cocoa (or another 64g of a dark chocolate of your choosing)
3/4 cup blueberries, plus a small handful for topping

The beautiful thing about the Newman’s Own Organics dark chocolate is that they can be purchased at Gourmet Grocer under 1920’s Commons (did someone say dining dollars?).

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Fahrenheit
2) Line an 8in baking dish with wax paper that is lightly greased and floured
3) Melt the butter and, in a large bowl, pour it over the brown sugar
4) Whisk the mixture
5) Add the egg and beat until slightly lighter in color, about two minutes
6) Beat in the vanilla
7) In a separate bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together
8) Add this to the butter/sugar batter. Blend well and set aside

9) Chop the dark chocolate bar into small (about 1 inch) cubes.
10) Fold into the batter
11) Split the espresso chocolate bar in half and chop the first half into small cubes; fold into batter
12) Fold in the blueberries
13) Pour batter into pan
14) Chop the other half of the espresso chocolate bar into vertical slivers and sprinkle these on top of the batter. Sprinkle some blueberries on top.
15) Bake for 30-40 minutes and let it cool for at least twenty minutes before you remove it from the pan (as tempting as they may be, you need the blondies to cool and harden).

16) Grab a comfortable seat, put on your favorite music track, and enjoy.

-Maegan Cadet