Bready or Not: Browned Butter Lamington Blondies
These Browned Butter Lamington Blondies are rich and indulgent, all chewy, chocolaty and good.
A lamington is an Australian dessert wherein pieces of sponge cake are rolled in chocolate and coconut. I haven’t gotten to try the real thing, but I can vouch for the fact that this home-baked version is delicious.
You start out with a blondie base that is rich on its own, with bountiful butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Then you go even more ultra by adding an ooey-gooey chocolate and coconut-laden topping.
The original version of the recipe, in the Bake from Scratch May/June 2019 issue, proposed this Lamington version as a modification for a standard Blondie recipe. I rewrote it to streamline the process and change out some ingredients. Like… this doesn’t need sweetened coconut. It’s already sweet enough!
As I live in Arizona and have a warm kitchen, I found it essential to chill these bars so that they could be sliced up. I stored them in the fridge afterward as well, but if you’re in a cooler area, that likely isn’t needed.
Bready or Not: Browned Butter Lamington Blondies
Equipment
- 13×9 pan
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
Blondie Base
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks
- 3 cups light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Topping
- 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 14- ounces sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, stirring often until butter turns golden-brown with a nutty aroma, about 5 to 10 minutes. Pour into a small bowl to let stand at room temperature while the next steps are prepared.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the browned butter. Add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Fold in flour until just combined. Pour into prepared pan, evening out with an uneven spatula.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Middle needs to be set or the toppings will sink. Once that is done, no need to cool the base layer–remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle coconut over the top followed by the chocolate chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk all over both.
- Place pan back in oven to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until middle is molten. Let cool for a while at room temperature, then place in fridge to completely set and chill.
- Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Slice. Store individually wrapped-up or in a sealed container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Almond White Chocolate Cookies
These Almond White Chocolate Cookies are quick to fix-up and bake, making them the perfect treat when you need cookies in a hurry!
And who among us hasn’t had a few cookie emergencies in their lives, truly?
These cookies are light and crisp. The almond flavor is imbued in the dough thanks to almond extract and the almond slivers throughout. White chocolate is the perfect sweet to balance with the nuttiness.
Modified from a McCormick product ad.
Bready or Not: Almond White Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- teaspoon scoop
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 9 ounces white chocolate chips
- 1 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs and almond extract. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, scraping the bowl as needed. Fold in the white chocolate and almonds.
- Use a teaspoon scoop to place dough, spaced out, on cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, until cookies are set. Immediately transfer to a rack to cool.
- Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Honey Graham Cracker Cookies
Today’s Chewy Honey Graham Cracker Cookies are a new twist on my original Chewy Honey Cookie base recipe.
This time around, crushed graham crackers are substituted for some of the all-purpose flour. This not only changes the texture, adding some pleasant grittiness, but also introduces a different sort of sweetness that pairs beautifully with chocolate.
Want to try some of my other original cookie recipes that use this same base? Here you go!
Chewy Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bready or Not Original: Chewy Honey Graham Cracker Cookies
Equipment
- plastic wrap
- teaspoon or tablespoon scoop
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 Tb honey
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips add a variety!
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and beat until creamy and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, graham cracker crumbs, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
- Slowly stir together the wet ingredients and flour mix until just combined. Sprinkle in the chocolate chips. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days; dough can also be frozen at this stage.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven at 350-degrees. Use greased stoneware, parchment paper, or silpat mats. The cookie dough, even straight from the fridge, has a soft Play-Doh-like consistency, and will spread when it bakes; keep this in mind when spacing cookie dough.
- Teaspoon-sized cookies need to bake 9 to 12 minutes; Tablespoon-sized take 11 to 13 minutes. Let set on cookie sheets for 10 to 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies will keep in a sealed container, between waxed paper or parchment layers, for weeks. They are excellent for travel or shipping.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Marble Sheet Cake
I love frosting, so take it on my authority that this Marble Sheet Cake is delicious without need of any frosting on top. Plus, enjoying the cake in naked or near-naked form with just a sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar on top reveals that beautiful marbling to the world.
That marbling is delicious stuff, too. The base batter is vanilla-flavored, with the other portion including cocoa powder and additional goodness.
The texture of the cake is tender and soft. Since there’s no need for frosting, this is a good travel cake. When I made this for my husband to take to work, I individually wrapped pieces to-go in a plastic bin. They made the journey without issue.
Modified from One Bowl Baking Special Issue from Bake from Scratch.
Bready or Not: Marble Sheet Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
Vanilla batter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk room temperature
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs room temperature
Cocoa batter
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Topping, optional
- 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, pour in milk, butter, and vanilla, stopping a few times to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time. Batter should be smooth.
- Measure out about 3 cups of the vanilla batter and pour it into the pan. Add the remaining three ingredients to the bowl, mixing until smooth. Dollop heaping spoonfuls of the cocoa batter onto the vanilla. Use a butter knife to swirl the colors to create a marbled effect. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to knock air bubbles free.
- Bake for about 35 minutes. The middle should pass the toothpick test. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Use foil to lift the cake onto a cutting board for easy slicing. Sprinkle on confectioners’ sugar just before serving. Store in a sealed container.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Chocolate-Frangipane Bundt Cake
This Chocolate-Frangipane Bundt Cake is a show-stopper: a rich chocolate cake with a hidden frangipane layer inside, crowned with drippy icing and almonds.
This cake would be perfect for the holiday season–or any time of year you want to go all-out on a delicious cake.
There are a lot of directions and ingredients, but the cake is really quite straightforward to make. I tried to simplify some elements from the original in Bake from Scratch Magazine (who would notice browned butter in a cake that’s already rich in several ways?) and made the ingredient division friendlier, too.
I have a deep, abiding love for frangipane, and this recipe balances the sweet almond paste against a nice, dense chocolate cake. It’s a fine combo.
If you want to save some baking day effort, make the frangipane a day ahead and stash it in the fridge. I do that quite often with recipes like this.
Bready or Not: Chocolate-Frangipane Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan or larger
Ingredients
Frangipane
- 1 cup almond flour sifted
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) melted and cooled
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Bundt Cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) plus more for pan
- 2 cups whole buttermilk or soured milk*
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder sifted, plus more to dust pan
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 Tablespoon half & half or heavy cream
- sliced almonds
Instructions
- First of all, make the frangipane. In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients until a smooth paste forms. This can be made a day or hours ahead of the cake assembly; if it is made ahead, press plastic wrap to directly cover the frangipane and refrigerate until it is used.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Generously grease interior surface of a 10-cup bundt pan with butter, then sift extra cocoa powder to coat it as much as possible. Rotate pan to distribute cocoa powder, tapping out excess if necessary.
- Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop and let it cool a few minutes. Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Add the buttermilk, eggs, espresso powder, almond extract, and vanilla, beating until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Switch from the whisk to the paddle attachment. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just smooth.
- Pour half the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Dollop the frangipane over the batter and smooth out, if possible. Top with remaining cake batter and smooth it again.
- Bake until the middle passes the toothpick test, about 55 to 60 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let pan cool for about 20 minutes and then carefully invert it onto a rack to completely cool. Bits might stick to the pan; if so, pry them out and try to patch the cake. Remember that frosting will help mask any damage.
- Once the cake is room temperature, make the frosting. Beat the confectioners' sugar, almond extract, and half & half together to together to form a thick consistency, then drizzle over the cake. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top.
- Cake will be moister on the first day but keeps fairly well for a few days. Slices can also be individually wrapped and frozen for later.
OM NOM NOM!
Notes
Bready or Not Original: Cookie Butter Shortbread
The Cookie Butter Shortbread is a new riff on my classic Shortbread recipe that I’ve also made with espresso powder and chocolate chips–and also with an infusion of lemon and a glaze. It’s a versatile base recipe.
Now, I bet some of you are asking–what is cookie butter? It’s essentially pureed spice cookies with oil, forming a spreadable consistency just like peanut butter. You can find it in stores by the nut butter; Trader Joe’s carries it under the name Speculoos. What cookie butter does is make cookies taste more… cookie. You’ll know what I mean when you try it.
This is not a crisp shortbread like the traditional Walker’s brand (which is delicious in its own right). No, this shortbread is cakey and soft, only crisp at the very edge.
Sometimes the first piece out of the pan can even be fussy and break in half; a metal pie spatula helps, but sometimes it can still happen. That’s no major problem, though, because of every bite of Shortbread is good, even if it’s not perfectly photogenic.
Enjoy this Cookie Butter Shortbread for breakfast or snacks, or in proper fashion at tea time.
Bready or Not Original: Cookie Butter Shortbread
Equipment
- 2 pie plates
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup creamy cookie butter
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Apply nonstick spray to both pie plates.
- Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and cookie butter. Use hands to compress dough together. Add the chocolate chips and mix, bringing dough together again to form a ball. Divide in half, placing one in each pie plate. Flatten dough with palms to create an even surface. Prick surface all over with a fork then use a knife to slash dough into triangular wedges.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until edges are golden brown and middle is set. Remove from oven and cut again along slash marks. Let shortbread cool completely, then cut again along existing marks.
- Shortbread keeps for several days at room temperature. It can be stored covered in pie plates, or stacked in a sealed container with wax paper between the layers.
