Blondies

I came across this recipe one Sunday afternoon when I was looking for something to satisfy my baking urge. It was the first recipe I found that I actually had the ingredients for and it had been on my to-do list since I unwrapped my cookbook du jour, Nigella Kitchen, at Christmas. I've never made Blondies before partly because, for some reason, I had always thought they would be a bit plain and uninteresting. How wrong I was!

These ones in particular turned out to be so delicious that I've already made another batch since I made the first one. The recipe includes a whole tin of condensed milk which gives them a lovely toffee-sweetness, porridge oats add substance and chocolate chips complete the picture. These come highly recommended from me!

Blondies

(adapted from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson)

200g/7oz porridge oats

100g/3 1/2 oz plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

150g/5 1/2 oz soft unsalted butter

100g/3 1/2 oz light muscovado sugar

1 x 397g can condensed milk

1 egg

170g packet dark chocolate morsels or chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line your square cake tin with foil.

2) Combine the oats, flour and bicarb in a bowl

3) In another bowl mix or beat the butter with the sugar until pale and creamy, then beat in the condensed milk followed by the oats, flour and bicarb mixture

4) When these are well mixed, beat in the egg, and into this relatively thick mixture fold the chocolate chips

5) Dollop the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it down with a spatula, then cook in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes. When ready it will be quite a pronounced dark gold around the edges and coming away from the tin. It will look and feel cooked on top, though just beneath it will seem frighteningly squidgy. But it firms up as it cools in the tin, so to end up with the requisite chewiness you have to take it out of the oven while it feels a little undercooked.

Makes 16 pieces