I cook at home as often as humanly possible. But there are days when opening up a bag of dried pasta seems like the equivalent of running a marathon. An entire homemade meal just doesn’t happen every night, so often times I revert to an exercise from my days in culinary school: The Market Basket.
Think of it like Chopped meets Survivor meets Kelly is starving and doesn’t want to wait 45 minutes for carryout to be delivered in New York City. So I open my fridge, get my creative juices going, and whip up a meal out of anything that’s within arm’s reach of my fridge or my pantry. In culinary school this resulted in some seriously outstanding fare, including the time I created a dish of Roasted Poussin with Sweet Potato Hash and Sage Oil. Those were the days. But not surprisingly, my fridge last week didn’t contain anything that even remotely resembled a poussin.
And in fact, when I opened my fridge, I saw this:
How pathetic is that?
I’ve always been a big believer in decoding people’s fridges (á la MTV Cribs), so in an attempt to shield myself from any judgment, I feel like this barren ice box image deserves an explanation:
- Energy drinks: I had my first Red Bull earlier this year, but that six-pack hasn’t moved an inch ever since I discovered my new best friend: Sambazon Lo-Cal Amazon Energy Drink. It’s organic! And made with açaí! I’ve never liked the idea of energy drinks, but sometimes coffee just isn’t enough of a kick in the pants to keep me going.
- Eggs: I always have a dozen. If all else fails, I scramble them with whatever produce is on hand and throw them into a tortilla.
- Beer: I’m not a beer-drinker. But I also realize my 23-year-old brother and his 23-year-old friends probably aren’t going to be interested in a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio on a Saturday night, so I keep it in the fridge for when unexpected (and cooler) company swings by.
- Brita filter: I don’t care how clean they say New York City tap water is. I filter it. I would filter the filtered water if I could.
- Soy milk: The remnants from my vegan cleanse two weeks ago.
- Brie cheese: The remnants from my Chocolate and Brie Panini experiment.
- Champagne: I’m a big fan of the bubbly. This bottle was a gift from my sister’s boyfriend after he stayed at my apartment during the recent hurricane.
- Tuna fish: I might as well be living in a college dorm, but it’s good for emergency situations so I always have a can or two.
The short version of this long story is that I never made it to my weekly Whole Foods stock-up session. And the even shorter version is that with a few eggs, butter, and a quick pantry raid, I whipped up these Toffee Blondies. They are my go-to treat for the very reason that they are the easiest dessert to make when supplies are limited. I use the same base for Peanut Butter Blondies, as this recipe really is the ideal way to transform any and every piece of Halloween candy into a freshly baked dessert bar.
So grab what’s on hand and get that oven preheating. And please share what you currently have (or don’t have) stocked in your fridge!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup toffee bits, divided
- Large-flake sea salt, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper so that it hangs over two sides. Coat the paper with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar and sugar.
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder and kosher salt, and then fold in ¾ cup toffee bits.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of toffee bits on top.
- Bake the blondies for until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let the pan cool completely then remove the baked blondies using the parchment paper overhang. Top with sea salt (optional) then slice and serve.
Shoutout
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Blondie batter adapted from YumSugar.
Would the texture of these blondies be cakey or fudgy (ok, there’s no chocolate in it to make it fudgy but you know what I mean, right? LOL)
Haha yes I do know what you mean! They’re definitely more on the fudgy side. “Dense” sounds negative but they are super moist and much more like a cookie bar texture rather than cake. Hope that helps!
These blondies taste great, and they are perfectly soft and chewy.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Beth!
I made these for a graduation party yesterday. I didn’t have parchment paper (out for some odd reason…) so I lined with foil and buttered the heck out of it. Worked out great and the best part were the crusty edges which for some odd reason I decided to keep at home. Made approx 18 mini blondies which was perfect. the house smelled heavenly – who doesn’t love brown sugar and butter?
Keeping in the arsenal
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Aletta!
I love these cookies. Thank you, Kelly.
I always follow a similar recipe but stick with a ratio of everything in 2’s, 2 sticks butter, 2 cups brown sugar, 2 large eggs, etc. But the tweaks with the bakers superfine sugar and the toffee bits, OMG the toffee bits!! Too amazing! How did this never cross my mind??? I never add chocolate chips but occasionally white choc chips. So white chocolate chips mixed in and toffee bits on top…. THE BEST I’VE EVER MADE!!! THE BEST!! And thankfully, too rich for me to devour in only a day or two :)
I made these and they came out awesome!!! and they’re super easy. Thanks so much!
I’ve been looking for a recipe of a moist and chewy blondies. Could this be the one? May I know what texture you got from this or should I lessen the flour a bit? Thanks.
Veuve in the fridge is all you really need!
Being that my fridge looks very similar to yours and making these Blondies has won out over pizza delivery…the oven is preheating! This blondie is having Blondies for dinner.
You’re inspiring me to clean my fridge, lol. :-) But even more so you’re inspiring me to parlay than open bag of toffee pieces I have in the pantry into these terrific blondies!
Haha, thank you Kathy! I could not resist sharing your Grilled Pumpkin Pie recipe – you are a genius!
Everyone loves a fridge shot! These blondies look fantastic, too!
Thanks for reaching out on Twitter..got to know about this wonderful blog. The Blondies look so gooey and delightful!
So great connecting, and I look forward to staying in touch!
I truly believe that it’s moments like these that truly end with the best things. I cannot get over how heavenly these look!
Thanks, Kamran!
Once on a first date a guy asked me the contents of my fridge. With the exception of some homemade soup, my answer was pretty similar to your photo! (We’re still together, so I guess he wasn’t that appalled).
Toffee blondies will be making their way into my kitchen really soon! These look delish!
I love this story :) Thanks so much for sharing, and enjoy the blondies!
These look SO good! I am bookmarking this one!