malted walnut blondies

I spent last week doing some nifty things.

I kicked the crap out of my fellow wizards on Pottermore for at least five hours during a sick day. As a unique individual prone to bouts of oddness (so says Pottermore), I was a clear pick for Ravenclaw. Luna would be so proud of me, if only because I deleted my initial boring Pottermore username to create a new one that mentioned those cute li’l treasure-seeking Nifflers.

I worked on catching up with Gossip Girl. Enough said.

After seeing a Facebook link for the Spice Girls’ Mama video, I mentioned that the video always makes me tear up. I then proceeded to watch the video and cry my way through it. To lighten things up a bit, I next watched the videos for 2 Become 1 and Viva Forever, and cried my way through those, too. I really love the Spice Girls.

I collected logs for a special project I’ll talk about here sometime. I spotted the first flower of the year, a Pulmonaria, in my yard. And I caught my cat in two cute places: on top of a new/used sofa that has yet to be un-verticaled, and next to my favorite on-display Barry Manilow playing card.

I also racked my brain [trying to explain, all the things that you do to me – bei mir mist du schön, you’ve heard it all before but let me try to explain] as to how to use some ‘Malted Milk Crisp’ topping that we purchased impulsively when hungry. I think the recipe I’ve come up with here is the answer.

Toasted walnuts, malt powder, and some single malt Scotch were added to a no-brainer blondie recipe. I decided to throw the Scotch in because it had malt in its name, too. Well, sort of – actually, both the powder and the Scotch are made out of malted barley, so it is an appropriate pairing.

I topped the blondies with a melted TCHO chocolate bar that had been mixed with a bit of milk, and followed that with a sprinkling of the malted milk crisp topping that started this whole affair.

Malted Walnut Blondies {original recipe}

Makes 16. Best served with a cold glass of malted milk.

++Ingredients:++

1/2 c. butter (1 stick), plus more for pan
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. ground walnuts, toasted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp malt powder
1 tbsp single malt Scotch
1/8 tsp salt
1 c. flour

3 oz dark chocolate
Milk
Malted milk crisp topping

++Directions:++

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter an 8 x 8″ pan. In a large bowl, melt 1/2 c. of butter. Add brown sugar, and mix well. Mix in toasted walnuts. Incorporate egg, vanilla, malt powder and Scotch.

Add up to 1/8 tsp of salt to taste, then add flour. Mix well.

Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth out. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how well-cooked you prefer your blondies to be. With a few minutes’ baking time left, melt chocolate and mix in several splashes of milk. Remove blondies from oven, and cut into 16 squares. Spread with melted chocolate, and top with malted milk crisp topping (or crushed malted milk balls, if you have them).

Chill in fridge until chocolate is set. Re-cut, and transfer to serving plate.

By the way, I was working my way through a 42-song list of Spice Girls videos while writing this post. Sure enough, when Mama came on, my eyes were soon brimming with emotion. Hormones, I’m onto you. You’re unique and prone to bouts of oddness.

Anyway, you’ll enjoy the video if you’re a girl and you like 90’s music. Otherwise… check back next time.