Muesli Topped Blondies Drizzled With Chocolate & Hazelnut Syrup

I hate junk mail. Yes, I HATE the very fact that people waste paper in the name of marketing and it collects in my letter-box every week. But nonetheless, I have to sit and sort out all the leaflets, brochures, pamphlets, mailers and letters that gather consistently over time. It is hard to do so without noticing what each of it says, lest I toss something useful onto the paper-shredder. It was during one such rampage that my eyes fell on this recipe. Yeah, and you were beginning to wonder if I have lost my mind...writing about junk mail on a food blog. No, not yet! At least, not when it comes to baked goods.

So, where was I? Yup, the recipe. It held my gaze for a long moment and the very next instant (no prizes for guessing) I knew I was going to bake it. "Sweet Treat - World's Best Blondies...and Simplest, too" - the title read. I love brownies, but I had never really heard of blondies. After I did my bit of online research I learnt that they are just like brownies, except that they are flavoured using brown sugar instead of chocolate. Splendid, indeed! But I had no chocolate OR brown sugar on hand..and still wanted to try these so bad. So, I went ahead and experimented using confectioners sugar and the outcome is what you see below. Hmmm..perhaps, I should have called them 'Whities'? I will let you decide.

The original recipe calls for adding dark chocolate chips and M&Ms. I altered it a wee bit and topped these babies with toasted muesli and drizzled chocolate and hazelnut syrup.


Ingredients
1 Cup All purpose flour (Maida)
1 Cup Confectioners sugar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 Cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
3/4 tsp Baking powder
1-2 tsp Milk (if required)
1/2 Cup Muesli (or just a mixture of rolled oats and nuts)
2 tbsp chocolate syrup (I used Hersheys)
1 tbsp Hazelnut spread
A pinch of salt

Method
- Toast the muesli for about a minute on a low flame and set aside
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an oven-safe baking dish with non-stick spray/oil
- Melt the butter in a non-stick sauce pan pour into a large mixing bowl
- Add sugar to this and stir
- Toss in the lightly beaten egg and vanilla extract and whisk
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the above wet mixture and mix to a smooth texture
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the toasted muesli evenly over it and place in preheated oven
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Allow to cool and cut into 1 inch squares
- Before removing from the baking dish, spoon the chocolate syrup and hazelnut spread into individual zip-top bags and push the contents in each bag to one corner to remove any air bubbles
- Snap a tiny portion (just a very small hole) of the same corner and pipe the syrup and sauce in alternative lines (or get creative and do your thing!)
- Enjoy!



Makes about 40 decadent mini cake-like blondies.

TIP - Add more butter if you want to render a gooey, fudge like texture to your blondies