White chocolate orange blondies

On those rare occasions when I have to cook just for myself, I have to admit, I am a bit of a slacker. I will scrounge around the fridge, put together bits and pieces of this and that, and scrape a meal together. Sometimes I even throw in a store-bought frozen pizza in the oven or open a can of soup. I know, I know, that should be an absolute no-no for someone who loves to cook, but somehow, I never have the energy to make an elaborate meal just for myself!

White chocolate orange blondies

Making dessert for myself, though, is a whole different game! I may or may not have a nice dinner, but nothing will stop me from having a great piece of dessert!

No one can accuse me of not having my priorities straight, right?

White chocolate orange blondies

I have lately been interested in recipes where the key ingredients have easy ratios that I can quickly memorize. It is so much easier to whip up dishes this way and not have to constantly refer back to the recipe! Besides, once you memorize the ratios, you are free to make your own additions and alterations – something that I absolutely love about cooking!

This recipe has a very easy ratio to follow -  1 cup of flour : 1 cup of sugar : 1 egg : 1/2 cup fat. Easy, right?

Just memorize this ratio and then add whatever other flavorings/nuts/dried fruits you want and you’ll end up with terrific blondies! I specifically chose the chocolate and orange combo because this happens to be one of my absolute FAVORITE flavor pairings and one that my husband absolutely ABHORS!

So, what better time to make it than when he is away for the night, right?

White chocolate orange blondies

The blondies turned out to be delicious and the orange zest made every single bite aromatic. It had a lovely moist and chewy texture with crunchy pieces of cashew nuts scattered here and there! So good! And don’t even get me started on how good the orange and white chocolate were together! Even my orange-chocolate combo despising husband couldn’t help but dig into these!  May be I’ll end up changing his mind, after all!

This is a rather sweet dessert, so you might want to cut the blondies into smaller pieces instead of the gigantic squares that I sliced them into!

Slice them whichever way you want – just make sure you make these blondies soon!

Here is the recipe –

White chocolate orange blondies

Adapted from this recipe on Smitten Kitchen

Makes 9 large squares

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

grated zest of two oranges

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup cashews

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F.

1) In a large heat-safe bowl, add the butter, coconut oil and dark brown sugar and microwave for about 60 seconds, until the butter melts. Mix well.

2) Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour and salt and gently fold them in.

3) Add the zest, white chocolate chips and cashews and again, gently fold them in.

4) Pour the mixture in a greased 9″ X 9″ pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester inserted in the middle of the pan comes out mostly clean, but also a little sticky.

[I like my blondies to be quite gooey in the middle, so I take them out when they are still quite soft and sticky in the middle, and then I let them cool completely in the pan].

Once they are completely cooled, cut into squares. Enjoy with a steaming cup of tea or coffee!

White chocolate orange blondies

I am submitting this recipe to this month’s Monthly Mingle being hosted by jenncuisine. This month’s theme is “Americana” and I thought that blondies would be a perfect fit for this! This is the first time I am taking part in the mingle, and I am so excited to see what the other bloggers will be contributing! This is going to be so much fun!