Apricot & Walnut Blondie
Blondies can be a beautiful thing.
Some say a blondie is just like a brownie but without the chocolate, but I think otherwise.
Blondies have brown sugar, lots of vanilla and my recipe also has lots of sour cream which helps keep it moist and rich.
With a decedent buttery flavour this blondie is chewy with a dense but squidgy centre, just as I think they should be, and then just to tip this over the edge, there’s a ton of chopped apricots and walnut.
Read the Tip Box at the end of the recipe, and find out some fruit and nut substitutes and tips on how to line the tin, and of course more.
I’m not sure what else to say about this recipe other than-
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Moist,, dense and delicious.
What You Need
450g Butter – Softened
370g Plain Flour
300g Soft Packet Apricots – Roughly Chopped - See Tip Box
300g Light Brown Sugar
300ml Soured Cream
200g Walnuts – Roughly Chopped – See Tip Box
3 Large Eggs
3tsp Vanilla Extract
Icing Sugar for Decoration - Optional
Mmix the apricot and walnut int with the flour - See Tip Box
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 180c
Prepare a hight sided rectangular tin approx. –12” x 8”
Rub butter or margarine around the entire inside of the tin making sure to get it right into the corners
Measure out a sheet of non-stick baking parchment big enough to line the entire tin, leaving a couple of inches over hang – See Tip Box
Make sure the non-stick parchment has no creases and covers the bottom and sides of the tin.
Use the Tip Box to find out how to line the tin.
Place the softened butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for around 3 minutes to loosen the butter up.
Add the sugar and beat again until the mixture becomes light and fluffy – around 5-7 minutes. – Scraping down the bowl a few times.
Add the eggs and the vanilla, and beat again for another 5 minutes – scraping down the bowl a few times.
In a separate bowl, add the flour, the chopped apricots and the walnuts, and mix together so that the walnuts and apricots are completely covered in the flour. – See Tip Box
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and using a large spoon or spatula, fold in the flour mixture. Be careful not to over mix – See Tip Box
Once combined, pour the mixture into the prepared tin and use a spatula to smooth out and even the top.
Smooth out the top of the dough
Put the tin into the hot oven and let it bake for 40-50 minutes – until it is a light golden brown and the centre bounces back when a finger is gently pressed on it, and a toothpick is clean when pulled out - See Tip Box
One completely cold, dust with icing sugar.
Let the Blondie cool completely in the tin before sieving icing sugar over the top.
Use a very sharp knife to portion up the blondie.
Serve at room temperature.
use a very sharp knife to portion the blondie
Tip Box
Walnuts – 1) Walnuts, have got to be my favourite nut to add to baking and I particularly love them in this recipe.
2) Having nuts in a bake always gives it an amazing extra dimension of not only flavour but texture too.
3) If walnuts aren’t your thing, use another nut. Hazelnuts or pecans are a great substitute.
Apricots – 1) Because the blondie is rich and buttery, adding fruit to the blondie gives it a little welcomed relief and apricots are perfect for this.
2) In the past I’ve substituted other fruit - cranberries or raisins work well.
3) When choosing fruit for this, use a packet fruit (not fresh) and make sure it is soft. Packet fruits can be dried, but buying soft packet apricots makes sure every bite stays moist.
Line the tin – Lining the tin will stop the blondie from sticking to the tin and makes it easier to remove when cold.
My tip for lining the tin is to cut out a large piece of non-stick parchment, so there’s an over hang of a couple of inches. Use sharp scissors to cut down each corner of the paper, so when put into the buttered tin, the cut corners fold over.
Coating the fruit and nuts in flour – Coating the fruit and nuts with flour is a trick to stop the fruit and nuts sinking to the bottom of the batter.
Don’t over mix – Over mixing the dough will make it tough, so folding the fruit into the dough really helps by stopping the machine from over mixing the dough.
Baking - All ovens vary so adjust the baking time accordingly.
A bite full of blondie, fruit and nuts.
