Scandinavian Blondies have more fun!

Scandinavian Blondies from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

At first I was looking for a peanut butter cookie recipe, but most of the ones I was liking called for 3-5 sticks of butter. I didn't have that much in my fridge and I didn't feel like going out to buy more since butter is kind of pricey at our grocery stores right now. The next time it goes on sale, I'm stocking up. I went through the cookbooks and turned to this recipe from King Arthur Flour. It was one of those serendipitous things as is not only used only 1 stick of butter, but it needed 1 cup of sugar, which is exactly how much I wanted to use up from the old bag before refilling the container, AND we had some sliced almonds that really needed used up.

The instructions for this recipe are very descriptive. For example, first you beat the eggs until "light colored and thick" and then add the salt and sugar and mix until "shiny and pale yellow." I felt these instructions were helpful, but I can see how people might think, How thick is thick? or Is this shiny or just glossy? I tried not to worry about that too much.

I went the route of the almond and vanilla extract (1/2 tsp each) variation on the bottom of the page. Almond extract is just delicious. And still had a very satisfying almond flavor so I wonder if the full 1 tsp standard in the recipe might be too much. I put the almonds on top and then added my own little thing -- some nutmeg and cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top. YUM!

After I got the batter in the pan and put it in the oven, my husband asks, "What almonds did you use?" I told him I used the ones he got from the Nifty Nuthouse that were in the cupboard. "Well did you try them? Because they might have been rancid. Nuts have a high fat content and they go bad quickly blah, blah, blah." I think the better question would be WHY WOULD YOU BUY ALMONDS, NOT DATE THEM, AND KEEP THEM IN THE CUPBOARD FOR SO LONG THAT THEY COULD BE ROTTEN!?! This is why old women are so territorial about their kitchens - Their husbands are always hiding potentially rancid food in them! But no worries, the almonds were fine.


These bars were really easy and very yummy. I maybe should have monitored the oven temp a little more or gave them an extra minute, because they were very very moist and soft, even after cooling. The almond flavor was perfect and these are so good that you could eat half the pan and not realize it until it's too late!