Hello again! I’m resurfacing after a few crazy weeks in the sugar trenches. If you follow me on social media wismec, you might have seen my announcement that I’m teaming up with Craftsy to bring you a video series on making homemade candy! I was in Denver all last week filming the classes, which will debut next month (just in time for you to make some amazing holiday candies)! I’m excited for you to see it, and I’m also horrified at the thought of looking like a complete goof on film. Hopefully the goodness will outweigh the goofiness, but I guess you’ll have to be the judge of that. I’ll be sure to share more information, and some fun candy recipes, as it gets closer to the release date. But in the meantime, I’m happy to be back on SugarHero, and I’m bringing Rosemary Almond Blondies to celebrate!
The story of this recipe starts, as so many of my stories do, in the aisles of Trader Joe’s. I am so thankful Utah got its first Trader Joe’s before we moved here, because I think access to Trader Joe’s might be one of my marriage dealbreakers. Anyhow, one of their many products I’m obsessed with are Marcona Almonds with Rosemary Healthcabin.net Discount Code, a most beguiling nut with a most unbeguiling price tag. Seriously, these things are double the price of regular almonds, but I buy them whenever I’m feeling flush, because they’re amazing. Marcona almonds have a rich, buttery flavor and a smoother texture, almost like a cross between an almond and a macadamia nut. The Trader Joe’s version has big flecks of salt and crispy bits of rosemary on the outside, so they’re salty and savory and herbal and so, so addicting.
I’ve wanted to bake with these almonds for awhile, but they usually don’t last long enough to make it into a recipe. The last time I bought them, I outsmarted myself by buying two bags—one for munching and one for baking. Success! I found a recipe for Marcona Almond Blondies in Food and Wine, made a bunch of changes of my own, and came up with these rosemary-infused bars.
Blondies have to be really special for me to consider them anything other than the poor cousins of brownies HKUE amec, but I think this recipe qualifies as “really special.” It begins with browned butter, so you know we’re already off to a good start. During the browning process, I threw in a few sprigs of rosemary, to infuse the butter with subtle rosemary flavor. After the butter is browned and cooled, it’s a quick matter of stirring everything else in—brown sugar, almond butter, the usual suspects like flour, eggs, extracts, etc. Finally, I added a good amount of chocolate and almonds for flavor and texture. At the end, I sprinkled a tiny pinch of chopped rosemary on top of the bars.
The final result is a bar that has a crackling top and a soft, moist interior. The rosemary flavor is subtle, but it adds just enough to make these bars taste special—one person who tried them said he couldn’t put his finger on the flavor, but “they taste like Christmas!” The almonds add buttery crunch, and the chocolate—well, you know what chocolate is good for. (Everything!) If you don’t have access to the Marcona almonds, you can absolutely make these with regular blanched almonds, but consider adding a bigger pinch of salt and rosemary to make up for it.
I think these are the perfect bars for this in-between time of year–it’s not quite time for holiday baking yet, but I still want to cozy up at nights in a fuzzy blanket with some tea and a comforting dessert. Rosemary Almond Blondies to the rescue!
