Shane's Blondies with Lowlights

My friend and fellow Bakespace member, Shane, made these wonderful Blondies on his blog Culinary Alchemy. Everyone on bakespace was making them so I had to give them a try. They were fantastic and I've made them many times since. I bet you're wondering why they are called Blondies with Lowlights. When I was making them Steve came over and asked where the chocolate was. I explained to Steve that these were Blondies and not Brownies. Steve said that he would not eat them without chocolate. So in an effort to make Steve (and the chocolate lover in myself) happy I added a small amount of chocolate chips. The chips melted and swirled in the pot. A few days later a few of us were discussing Shane's blondies on the forum. Someone else did the same thing I did and commented on the pretty swirl. Shane popped in with a little joke and called them blondies with lowlights! If you know anything about coloring hair you know that lowlights are when you bring in some strips of darker color into your lighter hair, you know, the opposite of highlights. It was a perfect name and thus Blondies with Lowlights were born. So I guess if you make brownies and swirl in some white chocolate you can call them brownies with highlights!

Blondies with (or without) Lowlights

Cooking Time: 30
Servings: 16
Preparation Time: 15

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Dark brown Sugar
2 Large eggs
1 large Egg Yolk
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 cup Heath Toffee Chips (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (for lowlights)


Directions:

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a sauce pan, melt butter.
Stir in the brown sugars, stirring until "melted' and the mixture just begins to bubble (This is similar to making a Pecan pie)
Whisk eggs and yolks together with Vanilla.
Pour in the eggs in a steady stream, while whisking constantly to prevent scrambling.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold Flour into the egg mixture.
Fold in Pecans and toffee chips (if using)
Spread into the pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes (5 minutes less for dark pans)
Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
Lift via parchment and cut when cooled.


Note: I like mine more on the thicker side so I use a pan that's slightly smaller.