rapture

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.