Name: Honey Blondies (Reduced Sugar)
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon baking powder; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled; 6 tablespoons honey; 1 large egg plus 2 large yolks; 4 teaspoons vanilla extract; ½ cup pecans , toasted and chopped coarse; ½ cup (3 ounces/85 grams) semisweet chocolate chips; ½ cup (3 ounces/85 grams) white chocolate chips

Why This Recipe Works

Honey lent itself perfectly to a classic blondie flavor profile. The texture, however, was a different story: We had lost the hearty crumb and chewy, brownie-like texture of a classic blondie. And textural issues aside, tasters also noticed that the bars were overly greasy. Since the greasiness seemed like a simpler problem to fix, we turned our attention there first. We tried cutting back on butter but found these blondies were lacking richness. Since reducing the overall amount of fat was clearly not the solution, we needed to find a different source of fat. We found our answer in egg yolks, which better emulsified the batter and didn't leach fat when baked. We were also happy to find that the extra egg yolks greatly improved the texture of the blondies by giving the bars better structure and therefore better chew. Although tasters were happy with the sweetness, we wanted to further amp up the flavor of the blondies. To this end, we added several teaspoons of vanilla, toasted the nuts, and used a mixture of white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips.

Before You Begin

Be very careful not to overbake the blondies; they dry out easily and will turn hard. Start checking for doneness a couple minutes early.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Grease foil.

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl. In large bowl, whisk melted butter, honey, egg and yolks, and vanilla together. Whisk in flour mixture until combined. Fold in pecans, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake blondies until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let blondies cool in pan for 20 minutes. Using foil overhang, lift blondies from pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.