A Southern Grace: rapture

March 9, 2013

rapture

Yum



I've never been among the first to buy any piece of technology. CD players, laptops, iPods, smartphones--I'm always late to the game, but I'm fine with that, as I can take advantage of advancements and the feedback of others. Waaaay back in the 90s, one of my best friends copied her BlondieCD onto a cassette tape so my CD player-less self could listen to it whenever I wanted.


I loved it! Call Me, One Way or Another, Heart of Glass, The Tide is High, Rip Her To Shreds, and yes, Rapture. I sang along to those feel-good ditties like nobody's business.

Great. Now I'm bummed that I don't have a cassette player so I could listen to that tape again right now...assuming I could even find it.

Speaking of rapture, I'm reminded of two ingredients: brown sugar and butter. Yes, brownies are tasty and hit the spot on certain occasions, but for my money, rich, buttery blondies are the way to go. This batch includes two of my favorite non-colored (or is it all-colored?) ingredients--coconut and white chocolate chips. As long as you don't overbake these beauties, they're extremely moist and chewy, with some texture added by the coconut and the chips. Plus, one bowl preparation--huzzah!


There's still a little bit of time left for you to enter my macaron giveaway, if you're into that sort of thing.

Rapturous Coconut White Chocolate Blondies
Makes 12 bars
Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces (1 cup) butter, melted
  • 2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup shredded coconut, plus a bit for the top
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9-inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar and mix well.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly, 1-2 minutes.
Fold in the flour, baking powder, salt, coconut, and white chocolate chips and mix until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Scoop into the prepared pan and spread smoothly. Sprinkle the top with a little coconut.
Bake 35-40 minutes, turning once halfway through. When the coconut on top and edges are browned and the center is just a little bit soft, remove from the oven.

27 comments:

lisa is cooking said...

Blondie is the best! And, so are blondies. Love this mix of white chocolate and coconut.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Like you, I'm always late to the game. I don't even own a cell phone!!! ;-)

Droolworthy blondies!

Cheers,

Rosa

Sue/the view from great island said...

Ooooh, I was planning a version of these for next week, we can have a bake-off! These look really rich and buttery!

Anonymous said...

You had me at brown sugar and butter, a great combination for wonderful flavor. And coconut is good too. I love how gooey these blondies look Grace; wish I could reach through the screen and grab some!

Lynda said...

I love gooey blondies Grace; actually I love anything with butter and brown sugar. Wish I could reach though the screen and grab some bars!

scrambledhenfruit said...

Yummy blondies! They're making me rethink my decision to give up sugar for a while. A little bit wouldn't hurt, would it? :)

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

I am dying for a bite my friend, too good looking :D

Cheers
CCU

Unknown said...

You had me at coconut and white chocolate!

Leslie said...

Are you feeling OK? There is no cinnamon in these.
I kid.
they look divine as usual Grace

Angie's Recipes said...

These blondies look DIVINE, Grace. Coconut and white chocolate...I love the combo!

Amy said...

Your blondies are so pretty. I love moist and chewy texture. Can't wait to try them out.

Erica said...

I loveeee white chocolate..
Those blondies look delicious,Grace! my mother-in-law makes delicious blondies, but this recipe with the addition od cocnut and white chocolate sounds amazing!

Carolyn Jung said...

These look positively chewy-licious. Yum!

Mimi said...

What a delicious twist on blondies . Perfect for that coconut loving son of mine.
Mimi

Katerina said...

My husband is a big fan of coconut! He would love these bars!

Joanne said...

I'm not a fan of new technology either...change, innovation...totally not my thing lol. but i love blondies. tried true and so delicious.

Barbara said...

My daughter asked Santa for one of those yellow Sony Walkmans to play her tapes. Yep...found one on eBay. Doubted it would work, but she's loving it. :)
I am a tech addict. I confess.
And Blondies made with white chocolate sounds like a brilliant idea to me.

Pam said...

I prefer Blondies too especially with white chocolate and coconut! YUM.

I actually had that Blondie album, as in RECORD, when I was a kid that I LOVED and listened to all of the time!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Love the cross section Grace! And I'm notoriously slow on taking up new technology too! Hubby is fast so he often pushes me :P

Foodhoe said...

I loved Deborah Harry! Great songs and spirit! These look delicious and so decadent... Do you run? How do you not get huge with all of these gorgeous baked goods....

Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic said...

I was just telling a friend that I want to make blondies soon. I think "soon" just turned to ASAP because of these. I love white chocolate and coconut too!

Blond Duck said...

I literally opened this and said, "Oh s****."

Savor The Baking said...

I love all of the ingredients in this brownie, especially the brown sugar. This and the butter go great together. ;-) Thanks for sharing.

Juliana said...

Coconut and white chocolate sounds really good in these blondes...
Hope you are having a great week Grace :)

Marjie said...

I have one car with a cassette player, and one with an 8 track player. How's that for "behind the times"? I love blond brownies, and these are loaded and wonderful looking!

I Wilkerson said...

Mmmm, the coconut sounds like a great addition!

Sugar & Spice & All Things ? Nice said...

Finally go around to baking these delicious squares. Took them out of the oven, cooled slightly and withing 1 hour 1/2 the pan was gone!! Hubby, son, nephew and I were having tea and ...... your squares. Thanks.