How to make chocolate chip blondies

After the somewhat epic Nutella cheesecake with smashed Ferrero Rocher that Charlie chose for his 21st, I was kind of hoping for something easy from Sam. He didn’t disappoint when he went for blondies (yes, it has actually taken me a complete month to get round to posting this recipe). What’s a blondie? Well, think of it as the soft, fudgy, butterscotchy little sister of the brownie. Instead of chocolate, the blondie gets its flavour from brown sugar and vanilla, resulting in squidgy, sweet, chewy bars that are perfect for sharing. I feel like there are two types of blondie recipe: cakey ones or squishy ones and this is definitely the squishy variety. Fancy baking these delicious, chewy, vanilla-scented beauties? Here’s how to make chocolate chip blondies - you won’t believe how easy it is.

You will need:

225g salted butter
350g light brown sugar
2 large free range eggs plus 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
285g plain flour
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g dark chocolate, chopped into shards

Firstly, get everything prepped. Line the brownie pan with non-stick baking paper, weigh out all the ingredients and preheat the oven to gas 4, 180 degrees C.

Melt the butter gently, then put the sugar in the food mixer on slow and pour in the butter. Then add in the eggs, extra yolk and vanilla extract. Mix until super smooth.

Sift the dry ingredients together then mix them into the wet ingredients. Finally, stir in the chocolate.

Pile the mixture into the lined tin and bake for around 30 - 35 minutes (this will depend on how deep your tin is - check by sticking a skewer into the centre of the brownie - it should come out clean). The top should be cracked and shiny (be prepared - it will sink when it cools a bit).

Leave to cool before you slice it. Then tuck in!

This is one of those recipes that gives you endless options for jazzing it up: stir through fresh raspberries and chunks of white chocolate, or add roughly chopped salted peanuts, swirl through with jam or peanut butter… whatever you like, really.