Cream Cheese & Pecan Blondies

More than a few food bloggers I’ve read in the last couple of days have mentioned being done with chocolate.  After Valentine’s Day I was in the same boat.  And while I had the desire to bake something sweet and delicious I knew I needed to steer clear of cocoa.  These blondies were the perfect compromise.

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I love blondies, maybe, just maybe more than I love brownies, but it depends so I can’t say for sure.  These blondies have a cream cheese swirl and pecans to make them even more delicious.  The top and edges get crispy and crunchy while the inside stays moist and chewy.  It’s a glorious combination.

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You can substitute walnuts for the pecans, or leave the nuts out altogether if you’re just not a fan of nuts or if you have an allergy.  The blondie batter can even be used on its own without the cream cheese.  You could mix in white or dark chocolate chips, toffee, or whatever you’d like.  The recipe calls for cake flour, and while I think all purpose would be OK, I haven’t tried it out.  Let me know if you come up with any spectacular combinations!

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These are wonderful on their own, but also quite nice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  But really, what isn’t nice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?  “Enjoy!” says Betsy.creamcheesepecanblondies7

Cream Cheese & Pecan Blondies

Adapted slightly from More from Magnolia Cookbook

Ingredients

Blondies

  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Cream Cheese Topping

  • 6 ounces cream cheese (1/3 fat is fine) softened
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9×13 inch pan and set aside.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl until well combined and light in color, 2-3 minutes.
  4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Then mix in vanilla.
  5. Add in the four mixture and mix to combine, then fold in pecans.  Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
  6. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese and sugar well.  Add in the egg yolk, flour and vanilla and mix well.
  7. Drop cream cheese mixture in heaping spoonfuls onto the blondie batter.  Use a knife to swirl the cream cheese through the batter without totally mixing it in.
  8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is beginning to brown and cake tester inserted into the blondies comes out with just a few crumbs.
  9. Let cool to room temperature before cutting OR let cool for 20 minutes at room temperature then pop them in the fridge for half an hour before cutting.