Family Favorite: Chocolate Cherry Blondies!

 My family really enjoys a chewy brownie and these blondies have the perfect texture. They are also super easy and quick to make. I wanted to make a treat for my daughter (who's still pregnant) today. To make it extra-special I decided to tweak the recipe; cherries and chocolate can never go wrong! You may notice a trend with me. And cherries. With chocolate...


Anyway, here's today's cast!


I melted the butter in the microwave--I always cut it into smaller chunks so it'll melt faster and more uniformly.


I put about a cup of dried cherries to soak in some warm water to soften up.


Dry ingredients are mixed together in one bowl.


The melted butter was mixed with the brown sugar. I doubled the recipe but regardless, this is not for the faint of heart; that's quite a lot of sugar!


I added the eggs and instead of vanilla, I used a cherry extract. It was pretty potent!


I drained the cherries well and dredged them in the dry ingredients before I added them to the butter mixture.


I used a non-stick pan but I still gave it a light spray with Pam before I spread the batter into it.


The top was sprinkled with chocolate chips. Who measures this part? Not I.


The blondie was baked at 350F for about 22 minutes. 


They were delish! The chewy cherries not only provided a pleasing additional texture, their tang was a welcome counter to the sweetness of the blondie and chips. The cherry extract was definitely present as well; Chris and Eric said it reminded them of cherry cordials. 

Amber said they were great. Unfortunately, they did not entice Luna to begin her entrance into the world. Alas. Still waiting...

Here's my tweaked recipe:

Chocolate Cherry Blondies

 

Ingredients:

1 c. flour

½ tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ c. dried cherries

1/3 c. butter, melted

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 T. cherry extract

2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x9 baking pan.

2.     Soak cherries in warm water to soften.

3.     Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4.     Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and mix well. Cool slightly.

5.     Mix the beaten egg and cherry extract into the brown sugar mixture.

6.     Drain the cherries well and dredge them in the flour mixture.

7.     Add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the brown sugar mixture, mixing just until combined.

8.     Spread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

9.     Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.



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