Chocolate Walnut Blondies

I made these amazing blondies a couple of weeks ago to send to my Dad for Father's Day. Apparently they were a big hit -- he enjoyed the first one before dinner with a tumblerful of Wild Turkey. That's quite an amuse bouche, but I bet it worked well with the caramel tones of the whiskey bouncing off the buttery, brown sugary, chocolate walnutty goodness of these amazing little squares.

The recipe, from the June 09 Bon Appetite is supper easy. You always hear about those one bowl desserts, this is one of them. And if you're a person who keeps your pantry stocked for baking and butter in your fridge, than you are only a few short moments away from blondie goodness. In my opinion this is a very very good thing.

I am whipping up a bunch tomorrow to take to the various 4th of July potlucks and bbqs. My Mom says I should label this food with some sort of "Careful! This Contains Nuts!" sign that is colorful and attention grabbing, but I'm hopeful that the obvious walnuts protruding from the tops of the blondies like some sort of moon rock will be a dead give away.

In Bon Appetite the blondies are made with peanuts not walnuts. I bet that would be good too. Also, be sure to let them totally cool before cutting. If not you will end up with soft gobs of baked but still pleasantly soft blondie which is not bad, if that's what you're going for.

Chocolate Chip and Walnut Blondies
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 and 1/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, divided (you may want a few more for extra sprinkling on top if you are a walnut fan)
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8x8x2 baking pan (or the equivalent). Whisk one cup flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl. Melt 1/2 cup butter in heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and add sugar and whisk until smooth. Cool mix two minutes, then add eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour mix, then 1/2 nuts and 1/2 chocolate. Spread batter in prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining nuts and chocolate.
Bake blondies until golden, a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, and the edges just begin to pull away from the sides, about 30 minutes.
Wait until very cool, then cut into 16 squares and serve.