please, with a cherry inside?

I love sweet things. I've got a pretty hardcore sweet tooth. In fact, I'm one of those people who gets the frosting from other people's cake. :) And since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, that means a plethora of chocolates, cookies, and candies available in the stores. And did I mention cakes and brownies? Yumm!

Speaking of brownies, I tried making some a few months ago. When I was going through my pantry, however, I found that I was unfortunately out of cocoa powder. So what's the alternative? Blondies, of course! I found a great decadent recipe for white chocolate cherry almond blodies and, boy, were they rich! I guess 1 1/2 stick of butter will do that. I think the main issue I had was all that butter. While they tastes sinfully good, I just couldn't get the butter factor out of my mind each time I took a bite. I've been on a hunt for a better recipe ever since.

This recipe piqued my interest. With a title of No Butter Baking. on the blog, I thought that I finally hit jackpot! No butter in sight and the blodies themselves looked decent. There is, however, a half cup of oil. Hmm...

Since I wasn't sure how these were going to turn out, I decided to improvise a little and play with the recipe. Semi-solid coconut oil replaced the vegetable oil in order to mimic fluffiness of the butter. There isn't really any liquor in my house so the brandy was switched with pure vanilla extract. I added some whole wheat flour to help soak up the inevitable liquid that this was going to produce and added some walnuts, just because. Also, I wanted to see if I could lift the batter a little, so I added some leavening agents to the dry mixture.

So what did I end up with? Not a bad blondie. It was kind of greasy though, which I expected. But since I used coconut oil, I just popped them in the freezer for a bit which helped with the texture and cutting. I think if I added another 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour or reduced the oil just a bit, these might've turned out a little bit better. Although, I'd probably end up with a stiffer dough. I still have to play around with the recipe, but all in all, this didn't turn out too bad. :)

---- o o o o ---- 

White Chocolate Cherry Walnut Blondies
(adapted from No Butter Baking.)

1/2 cup semi-soft coconut oil
1 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts

 
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line

In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil and brown sugar. Add egg, vanilla, and salt, and whip until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined. Add to wet ingredients along with white chocolate chips, cherries, and walnuts.

Pour batter into a parchment lined pan and level. Sprinkle top with additional cherries, chips, and walnuts and gently press into the batter.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan then chill in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes for easier cutting. Remove from freezer then cut into 16 squares.