redhead or brunette? no, blondies!

If you have an upcoming cookie exchange or you’re just looking for a little something different for your own cookie tray, these gingerbread blondies will fit the bill.  It’s hard to find an aroma or flavor that stirs up more Christmas memories than gingerbread. These pretty bars come together quickly and yield 2 1/2 dozen per pan. That’s hard to beat!

White chocolate can be such a pain to work with. The reason? It’s not real chocolate. White chocolate is a confection of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. It first appeared in the 1930s in Switzerland and was invented by Nestle to use excess cocoa butter.  Nestle introduced it to the United States in 1948.  It burns even easier than real chocolate.  To melt white chocolate, place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high for 1 minute. Stir, return to microwave, and cook on high 1 more minute. Remove and stir until completely melted. I prefer Ghirardelli brand white chocolate chips, I find them the best tasting and easiest to melt.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Blondies

2  3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 cups (2  1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted in the microwave
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Add molasses and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined.

Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Stir in white chocolate chips. The batter will be thicker than your usual brownie mixture.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and bake until golden and a toothpick, inserted in the middle, comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, for about 1 hour; cut into 32 bars.

Place the melted milk chocolate and the melted white chocolate in two separate zip-lock bags, seal and snip off a small corner.  Drizzle bars with chocolates, and allow chocolate to set before storing or packaging.

Blondies may be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to a month.

Makes 32