I live in Los Angeles. All of the stereotypes you’ve heard (or perpetuated) are true. We enjoy our juice cleanses (like… a lot). We wear ridiculously expensive yoga pants. We drive everywhere, all the time, into traffic, with traffic, against traffic… so much traffic! We are beach hippies (for real). We are ladies who get our hair blown out like we’re going to movie premiers every night… because we’re probably going to movie premiers every night (this is not my particular reality). Some of us care about the fancy cars that we drive, and the size of our diamonds. Some of us care about our Priuses and hemp shirts. We are everyone and we live together because we like sunshine always and forever.
One of my favorite things about Los Angeles is all of the awesome food people that live here.
Two of my favorite food people are Jessica Koslow of Sqirl Jam and Max Lesser of Morning Glory Confections.
Jessica makes the most lovely jams on the west coast. I love her jams because they taste exactly like the California that I love. Big, beautiful, like sunshine, earth, and quirk.
Max takes the simplicity of candy brittle and flips the script. His Chai Tea and Cashew Brittle… I can’t even deal. It’s all about honoring simplicity and nudging it with crazy fun.
I love what they do. I love brownies. Hence… the most awesome brownie smash-bang fusion ever.
A small pan of blonde brownies is just about the easiest thing to make. No mixer required. No waiting to softened butter.
If you’ve got brown sugar and a cup of flour you’re mostly good to go. Ok.. you also need an egg and a few other things, but you catch my drift.
As with most things in the kitchen, sharing is caring… even when it comes to brownie making.
Jessica and Max do the heavy-lifting of smearing and swirling the brownie batter.
These brownies are completely versatile.
The batter can be studded with candy brittle (I used Morning Glory Chai Cashew Brittle).
And! The batter can be swirled with jam!
Wait… batter can be studded with brittle aaaaannnnddd swirled with jam.
It’s like rocket science, but way easier.
Try to tell me you aren’t obsessed with Raspberry & Fresh Lavender and Cashmere Nectarine Jam. I won’t believe you.
Brittle Blonde Brownies give this dessert that extra chew.
The corner pieces are 83% more chewy/delicious/irresistible/and I’m-totally-calling-dibs.
Slice these suckers.
Generously please.
These brownies are buttery and sweet, with a gooey chewiness. They’re delicious with brittle and jam. They’re delicious with chocolate chips and toasted pecans. Pistachios? Yes! They’re a base for whatever inspires me in the kitchen. These brownies are like the soup of the dessert world. I mean that with love, respect, and melted butter.
Incidentally, Sqirl jam in incredible on Buttermilk Biscuits, and Morning Glory Brittle is the perfect treat for sitting in Los Angeles traffic. Tested. Approved.
Thank you for letting me share.
If you’ve got brownies on the brain, you might also consider:
Triple Chocolate Black Bean Brownies
Ginger Walnut Chocolate Blondies
and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies
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Brittle and Jam Blonde Brownies
makes 9 blonde brownies in an 8×8-inch pan (recipe can be doubled in a 9×13-inch pan)
recipe adapted from Morning Glory Confections
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 oz box brittle, chopped into ½ inch pieces or 1/3 cup of jam
Line bottom and sides of a 8×8 metal pan with parchment paper. Grease with butter or shortening and dust with flour.
Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Remove pan from heat and, using a wooden spoon, stir in the brown sugar. Thoroughly mix in the eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in half of the brittle (if using). Spread the batter in the pan. Top batter with the remaining half of the brittle.
If you’re using jam, dollop three spoonfuls of jam across the batter. Use a butter knife to swirl the jam through the batter.
Bake for 20-23 minutes rotating pan half-way through. Edges should pull away from side of pan and the top will be golden brown.
Let cool completely in pan on rack. Lift the ends of the parchment paper to remove from pan. Cut into squares.
Jill
I totally agree…they are one of my favorite “food people”, too!
Aimee@clevermuffin
I love the idea of using brittle in these! I can see a Christmas version with candy cane? Yes? Nom nom…
Becky
I made these last night. They are gone today. :( After receiving my lost crate (the best yet! thank you!), I got right to work. I browned the butter (hello, extra butterscotchy goodness) and used the chai tea cashew brittle. in your words, I couldn’t even deal. I ended up packaging up little bags of blondes and delivering to neighbors and friends because a) these things are INCREDIBLE, b) my hubby is out of town, c) I had already eaten 3, and d) I’m four months pregnant and can’t be trusted with an entire pan of blondies that are caramely, chewy, delightful little pieces of heaven. Thank you!
autumn
Yung humma reference?! Yeah for jam-making ladies! Thanks for this idea. There aren’t enough jam swirls in my life.
Amanda
came home after a looonnnnggg day of work to this treasure box of goodies from lc. i thought i wouldn’t get one for october, so i was uber stoked. i’m headed to see my hubby this weekend (we live apart because of work and owning a home in another state . . . long story) and i’m excited to get to tell you that my two lost crates + joy boxes are going with me. can you guess what we’re having for breakfast saturday morning? or what i’ll be making for snacking on on sunday?? thanks for all you do to inspire. :]
Kimiko
Made these last night with toasted pecans and chocolate chips… some how they came out tasting like apple pie — delicious! Super easy to bring together and I love how versatile these are :)
YUMMO!
Angela
Hi Joy! Was super excited about this brittle in my last Lost Crates package, only to discover the package was full of ants!! Yikes! After much shrieking and flailing about, the box has been properly disposed. Just hoping nobody else had the same problem!! The jam appears to be safe, and I will most definitely be trying your jam swirled blonde brownie recipe (minus any creepy crawly friends). Yum!
Amber
I loved getting these products in my lost crate!! The jam was leaking, but they’re sending me a replacement. I can’t wait to get it!
Joy, are you going to restart the Enjoy subscriptions while Lost Crates is on hiatus?
Shivaree
I made this using raspberry jam and though the jam part tastes delicious, the blondie part tastes a bit undercooked even though I cooked the blondies for 23 minutes. Now, I’ve never eaten blondies before so is this normal?
joythebaker
Well, doesn’t sound normal. Your oven may be off a bit, next time try adjusting the time. Sounds like maybe a few more minutes would have helped. Everyone’s ovens are different.