Why did the Blondie stare at the OJ? Because it said "Concentrate"

Blondies are always a surprise. I can't even keep count how many times I've been to a party and saw them on the buffet table, or at the supermarket bakery, or on a dessert menu at a restaurant. Oh wait, hold on... zero. That's right, zero times. Does anybody know why they don't get any love? Does it have to do with the sweet siamese flavor of brown sugar and butter? Or maybe it's because you can throw whatever you have in the pantry into the mix, and they turn out waaay better than you planned. I don't know why, but that bothers the baker in me. Blondies are not an anti-brownie, they are their own race of baked magic.

I know just about every restaurant in America has a Browine a la Mode of some kind, you know, that chocolate slab of blacktop with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Don't get me wrong, for chocolate lovers that's happiness on a platter. Trying not to smile when the waiter brings that to your table is like trying not to laugh when Jimmy McStink farted in Art Class. However I have a question for the bakers out there...

If there was a Blondie a la mode... Picture a golden brown square with butterscotch and bits of chocolate, topped with cinnamon swirl vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel glaze, would you eat it? Let me know if any hands go up. I think I would put that on the menu at Le Adam de Awesome. So that brings me to today's post... Blondies, Blondies, Blondies...

Honey Cinnamon Blondies
Recipe by Adam

-2 cups AP or white wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup honey
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 1/2 - 2 cups "add ins" (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, almonds, etc)

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a 13x9 pan with aluminum foil, and grease with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, take a wooden spoon or electric mixer and mix the brown sugar and butter until the lumps disappear and it is creamy brown looking. Add the eggs, vanilla, honey and mix throughly. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon to the bowl, and fold until the batter becomes thickened and smooth. It should be a little stiff like cookie batter. Add in your "add ins" and fold into the batter gently.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. These bars are a little thinner because of a large pan, so keep both eyes on lookout. Cool on wire rack, remove from the pan with the foil, and slice and serve.

I really like these bars. I adapted them from a post over at Simply recipes, however I put a couple spins on it. I took the butter down, added in some honey, cinnamon, and sliced almonds. In my mind, peanut butter and chocolate chips are a must, but you can subsititute whatever you'd like. I'm sure a few changes won't make them blow up on you, the only dynamite here is the taste.

Thanks everyone very much for wishing me luck this past weekend, and for throwing some love at both my dog and I. I have to admit it, we are both two good looking gentlemen :) I'll definately tell Remy how famous he is when I see him in a few weeks.

VA was awesome this past weekend. There was BBQ-ing, boating on the James River, soaking up the sun, and great weather and people all around. If good times were money, I think I'd be out of debt by now ;) We're talking Scrooge McDuck rich. I'm not going to say anything about how things certain business things went (I believe in jinxes sometimes), but I'll let you know when I do. Hope everyone else had a fanstastic 4th of July, whether you are American, Canandian, Martian, or whatever.