eclaire (what’s in a) name?

two years ago this week, i opened my laptop and began blogging about food, excited to share my favorite baked goods, dinners, breakfasts, and side dishes with all of you, my friends and family (and whomever else might stumble upon this website – hi, if that’s you! please leave me a comment and let me know you’re here!). since the inception of eclaire.name, back in july of 2008, i’ve posted 115 recipes. i have loved writing stories and anecdotes about where i found the recipes, and why i love to make the dishes.

but i’ve been holding out on you, keeping these blondies away from you. why? because this recipe is my signature dish – one that i’ve made so many times that i know it by heart. and i’ve been selfish, not wanting to share it, because it’s my recipe, my favorite dessert to bring to parties, my favorite cookie. my, my, my – i sound a little like a two year old, huh? but instead of wallowing in terrible twos on my blog’s second birthday, i’m going to try to overcome them and share this recipe with you.

so how did i find this amazing recipe that i’ve been keeping to myself all these years? well, it’s probably not much of a surprise to you that i’ve been cooking and baking for a long time. i can remember standing on a chair when i was a kid, leaning over the counter to watch what my parents were cooking, and being excited about the whole process. my parents, ever supportive and fabulous chefs themselves (you might have noticed that i’ve purloined many of the recipes on this site from them), bought me a kids cookbook, called kids cooking: a very slightly messy manual, part of the klutz series. i fell in love with the cookbook, and i think we made almost every recipe held within the spiral binding. in a short matter of time, i realized i wanted a new cookbook, perhaps one that had more desserts in it. so when my school had a book fair (remember those?), i saw this cookbook called the cookie lovers cookie cookbook, and decided that i had to have it. i’d like to say that i bought it for the delicious recipes inside, but i’m pretty sure i was just drawn to it because it was pink, had a cat on the front, and was all about cookies – three of my favorite things at that point in my life.

i read through the book when i got home, and discovered a recipe for blondies, something i’d never heard of before. i was immediately drawn to the recipe, possibly because i’m a blondie, too. so i made them, and they were so easy to put together! way easier than brownies, because you didn’t need to melt chocolate in a double boiler, and everything happened in one pan. the only problem with them is that they didn’t have any chocolate in them. at all. and that, to me, was a huge omission – i mean, what’s the point of dessert without chocolate? so i threw some chocolate chips in the second time i made them. and i fell in love.

the next fall, when my parents suggested that i enter something in the baking section of the county fair, this was the first recipe that came to mind. i remember being really nervous when i made them, ensuring that none of the eggshell got into the batter, and that there weren’t any lumps of salt or baking powder. and then we delivered them to the fair, waited a few days until the judging was complete, and went to go see what happened. i jumped up and down when i saw that i won first place in my category. and then my dad noticed that i also won a c&h sugar award, meaning i would get 16 pounds of sugar for free! i don’t think i ever cashed in that prize, but both awards confirmed what i already knew: this recipe is a winner! i hope you all enjoy it, and i promise to keep sharing mouthwatering recipes for you for many more years to come! thanks for reading this blog, and thanks for sharing your favorite recipes and food with me over the years, too!

one year ago: summer lasagna
two years ago: couscous “tabouli” salad

blondies

yields 16-25, depending upon how you cut them
slightly adapted from the cookie lovers cookie cookbook, by prudence madden younger

• 1/2c butter, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1c brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1t vanilla
• 1½c flour
• 2t baking powder
• 1/2t salt
• 6oz chocolate chips
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1. preheat the oven to 350º
2. grease a 9×9″ baking pan
3. melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
4. once the butter is melted, take the pan off the heat and place onto a pot holder on the counter
5. add the brown sugar and stir well
6. add the eggs one at a time, stirring fast after the first one so it doesn’t scramble
7. add the vanilla and stir again
8. combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large measuring cup (i use a 2 cup one), and stir to combine – this will ensure you don’t have any concentrated salt or baking powder lumpes
9. stir in the dry ingredients
10. stir in the chocolate chips, and pour immediately into the greased pan, so the chips don’t melt and stain the batter (we don’t want brownies, right?)
11. bake for 25-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted off center comes out clean
12. allow to cool, and then cut
13. this recipe doubles very easily, but i suggest you cook in two separate 9×9″ pans instead of a 9″x13″ – i’ve found that 9″x13″ pans leave the center too runny and the edges too dark
14. enjoy!