Ingredients
Method
- Heat oven and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8 x 8 baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a little butter or baking spray in the pan to make the parchment paper stick.
- Brown butter. Brown the butter. Heat it in a small pan over medium heat. Don’t walk away! This only takes about 5 minutes, and it’s only a few seconds’ difference between lovely, nutty brown butter and ruin. It will bubble and foam up a bit, and then the bits on the bottom will start to turn brown. Stir it every so often to keep it from burning. Once the bits on the bottom are a nice amber-ish color, take the pan off the heat, pour the browned butter into a small bowl, and put it in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.
- Mix batter. Combine butter and sugars in a bowl and mix well. Add eggs, vanilla, and maple and mix. Add dry ingredients on top and whisk with a fork before mixing them into wet ingredients until fully combined, but don’t overmix. The batter will be light brown and very thick. Scoop it into the prepared pan and use a rubber spatula to smooth it out until even. Dollop spoonfuls of raspberry jam onto the blondie batter. Drag a knife through the batter and the jam, moving side to side in a snakelike shape (google a video if you've never done it before).
- Bake. Bake blondies for 20-30 minutes—the time will depend on your specific oven—until the edges are set and golden brown. The middle should still look underdone, and will continue cooking in the pan as they cool.
- Make cream cheese glaze. While the blondies are baking, make the glaze. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla paste or extract, lemon zest, a pinch of salt, and 2 tbsp of milk in a small bowl. Use a handmixer to mix until smooth—it might take a minute to get all the lumps out. Add more milk to reach desired consistency, if needed.
- Cool, cut, and glaze. Once the blondies have cooled a little (they can be warm but not hot), use a butter knife to loosen the sides from the pan. Place a large plate over the blondies, flip them out onto the plate, and then turn them right side up. Cut into 9 squares and drizzle with the icing.
Notes
butter: use unsalted if you can; salt content varies in salted butter and unsalted gives you a little more control.
brown sugars: I like a mix of light and dark, but you can just use one if you’d rather.
raspberry jam: feel free to use any fruit jam you want!
icing: First, don’t mix warm and cold ingredients. It will curdle. Second, use all of it. I didn’t for photography purposes, but you should. leftovers: refrigerate, covered, for 3-4 days. Use toothpicks stabbed into blondies and saran wrap on top of them to keep them looking nice.
brown sugars: I like a mix of light and dark, but you can just use one if you’d rather.
raspberry jam: feel free to use any fruit jam you want!
icing: First, don’t mix warm and cold ingredients. It will curdle. Second, use all of it. I didn’t for photography purposes, but you should. leftovers: refrigerate, covered, for 3-4 days. Use toothpicks stabbed into blondies and saran wrap on top of them to keep them looking nice.