Blondies and My First Award

Wow. I know it has been too long since I've posted. And I've wanted to so much, but really have had no time this last month. I am teaching a class in my university, and I am really enjoying it but it is extremely time consuming. From preparing all the lectures, exams, and home works, grading, and holding office hours, I have found so little time to do other things I enjoy, including cooking. I've made a few interesting things here and there (mainly for Thanksgiving), but they were all either made at night (not good for photos), or eaten right away (too hungry to stop for pictures). So sadly, I have not been able to post, and really, I missed it so much. There is something so exciting about seeing comments on your postings, it really makes it all worth it. Thank you so much to my commenters! You all rock.

A while ago, I posted about whole wheat peanut butter cookies, and a whole wheat challenge where I was baking some of my favorite recipes by replacing some (or all) of the all purpose flour with whole wheat. I got a request from lucysmom for whole wheat blondies, so here they are!

This is the blondie recipe I ALWAYS make. It is fantastic -- the result is a soft, chewy, toffee-flavored, blondie loaded with chocolate chips (I also often put walnuts and pecans). I have always made it with all purpose flour, but a while back I tried replacing all the all-purpose with whole wheat pastry and I seriously cannot tell the difference. I guess the amount of butter and brown sugar in the recipe takes away the healthy tastes of the whole wheat (woot for butter and brown sugar!) If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour, I've also replaced half the all purpose with regular whole wheat and the result was just as good.
A few weeks ago, Memória from Mangio da Sola (a very lovely blog that I read regularly) gave my blog this award.
I am so grateful to her for recognizing my blog. I also really appreciate her generous and thoughtful comments on my blog. Thank you Memória!
In honor of this award, I will pass it on to two other drool-worthy blogs that I like to read regularly: Dolce at Confessions of a chocoholic and Jill at Jillicious Discoveries. Congratulations! :)

Whole Wheat Blondies

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted (preferably on the stove top)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or 1/2 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter (I usually do this by hand). Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir until well combined.
2. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just incorporated.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
4. Pour into 8x8 in pan and bake for 25-30 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.