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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Peanut Butter Milky Way Blondie Cups

I wanted to do something nice for Ashley, my blog designer who tirelessly worked with me, patiently answering my dumb questions, changing tiny details according to my preferences, and being all-around awesome as she helped me re-invent the look of this space. Knowing she was a big fan of baked goods with peanut butter, I opted to make blondies in muffin tins, hoping they would ship better than cookies!

Shipping baked goods makes me nervous. I worry that they'll crumble to a million pieces or that by the time they arrive they'll be old-tasting and stale. Still, I felt baked goods were the best way to show a food blogger's appreciation, so I packaged these up and sent them on their way. A few days later I received an email from Ashley...not only had they arrived, but she assured me they still tasted fresh, fresh and yummy enough that she was forced to eat three! Success!

Though I didn't get to try any of the blondie cups, there was some extra batter, which I baked into a little dish and Ryan and I enjoyed. The peanut butter flavor was prominent, and the Milky Ways formed little pockets of chocolate caramel goodness. You could easily substitute your favorite candy bar for the Milky Ways; Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twix, or M&Ms would all be good!

I now feel a little better about mailing baked goods, and felt these blondie cups were especially easy to package. Help me out though, what are your tips on mailing perishable items, and what treats have you successfully shipped?

One Year Ago: Panzanella Caprese (A Spring/Summer FAVORITE!)


Peanut Butter Milky Way Blondie Cups
adapted from So Good and Tasty
Ingredients:
-10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
-1 1/2 cups brown sugar
-1 cup peanut butter
-2 eggs
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 cups flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 cup Milky Way fun-sized candy bars, coarsely chopped (I used about 10 fun-sized bars)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. Add butter and sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter until melted and set aside for another 5 minutes to cool.
3. Whisk in the eggs and the vanilla extract with the peanut butter mixture. In a separate bowl, mix together salt, flour, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients, stirring just until incorporated. Mix in chopped candy.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way full. (There's probably enough batter for 13-15 blondies, or you can bake the extra batter in a small baking pan) Bake for 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake--err on the side of underbaking. Remove blondie cups and cool completely on a wire rack.