Blonde is Beautiful - Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Blondies

Not being racist or anything, but these Blondies really are beautiful. If you, like me, have only heard of the more popular darker cousin - the Brownies, then let me tell you these Blondies are just as good. The texture is definitely very different from the crumbly, gooey brownies. Blondies are delightfully dense and a little cake-y, but they are delicious and refreshingly different from anything I have had earlier.


Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour (Aata) - 2 1/2 cups
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Powdered Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
1 teaspoon baking soda
Butter - 1 cup, at room temperature
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Granulated White Sugar - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 or Thick Curd/Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Yellow Pumpkin (Pureed) - 1 cup
Chocolate Chips - 3 tbsp

Preheat oven to 180°C or 350°F. Brush a square baking pan with butter or cooking spray or line with foil.

In a bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, garam masala and cinnamon powder. In a separate bowl or in a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugar till soft. Add the egg/yoghurt and vanilla extract and continue to whisk till smooth. Now add the pumpkin puree.

If you are using fresh pumpkin like I did, just cut dice the pumpkin to fill 2 cups, blanch them in some hot water for 5min, drain, and puree in the mixer with a splash of water.

Combine this mixture well and do not worry if it looks a bit funky or curdled. Now mix in the flour/dry ingredients and fold slowly till there are no lumps. Add in the chocolate chips at this stage and continue to fold gently.
Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread evenly. Bake for 35-40min or until the batter starts pulling away from the sides of the pan and a toothpic inserted in the middle comes out clean.
The way I like it:
I made this with whole wheat flour, but you can use all purpose flour/maida. I also prefer my baked goodies egg-less, and hence the yoghurt instead of one large egg. I don't think there was any difference in the end product though. You can also add nuts of your choice, butterscotch, or white chocolate chip cookies instead of dark. I also think you can do without the pumpkin completely, but the pumpkin and spices add an extra dimension of flavour to the blondies...

Tastes great with a scoop of French Vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of Hershey's chocolate sauce. But Sid claims the best combination is warm blondies with a cup of cold milk :) I did not try that myself so cannot vouch for it!