Pumpkin-topped white chocolate blondies

This was another delicious idea from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. It was easier than I thought it would be (for some reason the initial read-through made it sounds like more steps than it is), and the only complaint I have is that the base is more liquid-y than the pumpkin topping, so most of it oozed to the sides of the pan, meaning the edge pieces had far more blondie than the middle pieces did. That being said, they were all really tasty and my stomach hurts from sampling bars from all over the pan.
If I make them again, I might place the bottom layer in the fridge for a few minutes to let it firm up some...and I also might use some strong cassia cinnamon in the blondie base...and maybe a bit more pumpkin pie spice still in the topping.
But all of that is not to say that there are any real weaknesses here -- the recipe below is a great way to kick off the autumn baking season.

White Chocolate Blondie Base:

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup white chocolate, chopped finely

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 heaping cup all-purpose flour (+1-2Tbsp extra if at altitude)

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Pumpkin Top:

6 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (1 1/3 heaping cups if at alt)

½ tsp. baking powder (a tad less if at alt)

Pinch of salt

1 heaping tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Grease a 9-x-9-inch pan with baking spray.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Blondie Bottom:

Melt white chocolate and butter together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. White chocolate does not melt as smooth and pretty as dark or milk chocolate. Don’t worry. Set aside to cool.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with beaters) beat together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until smooth on medium high speed. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and continue beaten until well combined.

Add flour and salt to batter, and mix on low speed until combined, with no trace of the dry ingredients in sight.

Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle white chocolate chunks/chips evenly over the top of the blondie batter. Set aside.

For Pumpkin Top:

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat together the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and continue beating until well combined.

Add the pumpkin and beat until thoroughly combined.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and spice to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains.

Pour pumpkin top evenly (do the best you can) over the blondie layer in prepared pan. Bake for 30-34 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only crumbs, not batter, on it.

Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 1 hour.

Top with more white chocolate and maybe a little caramel if you would like.

Adpated from Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding with Bryna Levin
(Taken here from CCbP)

Raspberry White Chocolate Blondies

I hardly ever use cake mixes these days but when you're in a pinch, these are super-fast, very tasty, and so easy to make...

1 package (18.25 ounces) white or yellow cake mix
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (or more if desired...pretty if you stick extras on top of batter before baking)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 by 13-inch pan with cooking spray.
Place the cake mix, eggs, salt, and melted butter in a large mixing bowl.
Blend with electric mixer on low speed until ingredients are moistened, 1 minute.
Add chips and blend on low another 30 seconds, just to incorporate.
Gently stir in raspberries, trying not to crush them in the mix.
Turn the dough into the pan, and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula.
Place the pan in the oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bars are lightly browned but still soft.
Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes, then slice and serve.

Dairy-Free Cinnamon Sugar Blondies

I adapted this recipe for a friend who can't eat dairy for awhile -- I think it turned out really well and can barely tell the difference from the original recipe!

Snickerdoodle Blondies
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (+~2Tbsp flour for alt)
2 teaspoons baking powder (-~1/2tsp for alt)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup vegan shortening spread, softened
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread 1/2 the batter evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish; might help to use Pam on your fingers to spread without sticking).
Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle ~2/3 cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
Spread remaining batter over top, sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mix on top.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.Yields: ~20-25 servings

Butterfinger Blondies

I just barely tweaked this recipe from Recipegirl for my brother-in-law's bday treat. I wish I had baked it about 3 or 4 minutes less, but otherwise they were great. A really tasty deep buttery flavor!

2¼ cups flour (+1-2Tbsp for altitude)
1 tsp baking powder (-1/8 tsp for altitude)
1/2 tsp salt
¾ cup butter, softened
2¼ cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 regular-sized butterfinger candy bars, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13×9-inch baking pan, or a Baker's Edge pan
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine butter and brown sugar.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth.
5. Stir in flour mixture and about 2/3 of crushed butterfingers.
6. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining crushed butterfinger bars over top of batter.
7. Bake 30- 35 minutes [I would check after 20 or 25min though, esp if making in a Baker's Edge], or until the bars are a bit firm to the touch. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Maple Coconut Blondies

This simple yet delicious recipe is adapted slightly from Baking Bites and yields 16 very moist, not-too-sweet-or-overpowering, wonderful bars.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp maple extract
1 large egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and the egg and whisk until smooth. Add in flour and salt and stir just until no streaks of flour remain. Add in coconut and stir to distribute evenly. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until blondies are set and lightly browned.Cool in pan on a wire rack.
[High altitude: Add an extra 1-2 Tbsp flour and bake at 325, watching closely after 30min or so til top is lightly browned and knife comes out almost clean.]

Pumpkin Blondies

Fall has always been my favorite season o' eating (hmmm, though I might say this around Christmas too...and spring when berries are in season...and...never mind, let's just say I love fall food). This year is no different for the most part, except I have a little more time to actually bake now that that whole pesky dissertation thing is behind me :-)
I keep reading about pumpkin blondie variations, and decided to go with one from Annie's Eats.
I pretty much followed the recipe, but have added a few more details/very slight twists below.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate, butterscotch chips, and nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting into 24 squares.

Black and White Chocolate Blondies

Tonight I made a tasty variation on the Snickerdoodle Blondies: I omitted the cinnamon in the sugar mixture and instead mixed in 1cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1cup white chocolate chips. I still sprinkled the top with 2Tbsp sugar and after 20min of baking, I pressed in some additional chips to up the pretty-factor. Note: in the Baker's Edge pan these definitely need 35min to bake so the middle doesn't cave in already.
So they're basically cookie bars but I like them more -- less dense, and a deeper vanilla taste.