Blondies are one of my favourite tray bakes. For these I wanted to combine the richness of the white chocolate with the classic flavour combination of peanut butter and strawberry jam (or jelly in US). I’m very happy with the result and hope you will be too.

Makes: 16 squares

Time: 30 min to prep; 30 min to bake + cooling then about 20 min to decorate

Level: Easy

Need: A 20cm/8” square cake tin

Ingredients

125g/4½oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g/3½oz butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
125g/4½oz crunchy peanut butter
175g/6oz light brown sugar
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract and/or strawberry extract
100g/3½oz white chocolate, chopped
25g/1oz chopped peanuts* or mixed nuts (optional)
75g/2½oz- 100g/3½oz strawberry jam

To decorate

75g/2½oz white chocolate
15g/½oz butter
Freeze dried strawberries
2 – 3 Peanut halves per blondie

* If, like me, you only have salted peanuts, wash off the salt and dry the nuts before adding to the mixture.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / Fan 160°C / 325°F / gas 4. Grease and line the cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together until very soft. Add the sugar, beaten egg and vanilla/strawberry extract and beat until well combined.

4. Add the flour, baking powder, chopped chocolate and chopped nuts (if using). Mix.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Add blobs of jam and stir briefly with a chopstick or similar item to create a marbled effect.

6. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until golden brown and almost firm in the centre.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, before removing and cutting into squares. (You might find the bottom surface is flatter, so invert the slab then cut it.)

8. To decorate, melt the white chocolate and butter together in a bain marie or the microwave. Brush the tops of each brownie with melted chocolate and add the freeze dried strawberries and peanuts as desired.

NB Unless you’re faster than me (which is highly likely) it’s probably best not to brush all 16 pieces with melted chocolate at the same time as some may cool too quickly and stop the decorations from sticking. I brushed them in sets of 4 and added the decorations while the bain marie re-warmed over a very low heat.

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Click this link for more tasty traybake recipes. Below are some of my favourites that I think you’ll love too. Or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury.