Brown Sugar Blueberry Blondies

We had a really bad Nor'easter yesterday, which really put me in the mood for cooking and baking. As far as cooking, though, I wasn't able to get to the grocery store yesterday, so dinner ended up being homemade pizza. But, I could still bake.

I went back and forth between cupcakes (A had just been to a birthday party where he had them... problem was, I DIDN'T and I WANTED one). When I asked him if he wanted to make cupcakes, he said he wanted to make muffins. Then he didn't. Oh, two year olds. Then I found this recipe on Anne Strawberry's blog for Brown Sugar Raspberry Blondies. And I knew I had frozen raspberries!!

Alas, those raspberries were terribly freezer burned, so into the trash with them. I also had some beautiful frozen blueberries, so with those I went.

As happens so often in this house, BAJ or A started talking to me as I was measuring. So, I wasn't sure if I had put in 1c of brown sugar or 1-1/3c, so went ahead and added another 1/3 c. Maybe I shouldn't have.

It's a fact that our oven doesn't like to bake brownies. They always take way longer than the suggested time, and when the center is done, the edges are hard. After about 45 minutes of baking, a toothpick test proved them to look done (although it came out a little moist, the moisture was blue, so I took that to be blueberry juices). It wasn't done. When I took the pan out, and flipped it over, the bottom stuck to the pan and the center was very moist. Ew.

So, whatever caused all these problems, I do not know. I really need to start using the convection setting when I bake brownies; maybe that will help get a more even temperature.

I did eat the edges, and they were very tasty, so I will post this recipe in hopes of trying it again. I won't bother taking any reference pictures because, well, the pan looks gross.

Original recipe from Anne Strawberry
1 1/3 Cups Flour
1 1/3 Cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup frozen raspberries I used blueberries
½ cup chopped pecans Omitted

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour small rectangular baking dish (line the pan with foil for easy removal and cutting later. If you want these gooier use a small square pan, but next time I'll keep them a little thinner for even baking).

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, eggs and vanilla; mix on low speed of electric mixer until blended. Mix 1 minute on medium speed. Batter will be thick. Spread half of batter in pan. Toss raspberries in small amount of flour. Scatter berries over batter; spread remaining batter on top (gently!). Sprinkle with pecans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool on rack and cut into 16 pieces. Chocolate Chip Variation: Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips over batter with pecans.