Muffin Monday......blond brownies

Muffin Monday......blond brownies, originally uploaded by tommiea1.

Oh my ......these were simply delicious.

Just a little background on Muffin Monday: I am a diligent follower of Flylady. Just as Mike left in October 2006, Flylady issued a challenge to get rid of cookbook clutter. I had narrowed things down once before, but wondered if I could really get rid of anymore cookbooks. So I told myself that if didn't use a cookbook for at least three recipes I would get rid of it. I would put the recipes I used it for on cards or in my recipe notebook.....and out it goes.

There were a couple of cookbooks that were very sentimental but I only used one or two recipes in it....so I looked through the muffin recipes thinking I could make one or two and get to keep that cookbook. Kind of like bargaining with myself.

Muffins are actually pretty easy to make with the kids....who were only 2 and 3 at the time! Livi could measure the dry stuff. Will could do the wet stuff......wallahh, mix, scoop and bake. We could be done in 45 minutes from start to finish.

Also since we used mini muffins, they only take 10-13 minutes to bake. We had lots and lots of muffins.....so we started to share with out neighbors. We have tried sweet, savory, spicy, and every flavor in between.

Now we are running out of muffin recipes. This month in Better Homes and Gardens, I saw a recipe for Cranberry Blondies with Cinnamon Whipped Cream. They were awesome! It said to let them cool for an hour...well, that didn't happen. But today I tried a little piece, and it was better today. I guess we should have waited.

Happy Tuesday.....

edited to add recipe: (my notes in red)

Nonstick cooking spray

1/2 cup buttered, softened (leave it out on the counter for a few hours prior to baking...makes it really easy to mix with the sugars)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour (I use half wheat and half all-purpose flour.)

1/2 dried cranberries

1/2 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate (I just used white chocolate chips, since I couldn't find a bar.)

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 recipe Cinnamon Whipped Cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 11x7x1 1/2 inch or 9x9x2 baking pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray and and set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter with wire whisk or electric mixer until softened. Beat in sugars. baking powder, soda, and salt. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. On low speed, beat in flour.

3. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle with fresh cranberries; press in lightly with spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. (I didn't read the part about pressing the cranberries, so I just mixed them in the batter...which is VERY thick. They turned out fine.)

4. Cool on wire rack for one hour. Lift with foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars. Serve with Cinnamon whipped cream. (Did NOT cool for an hour....still turned out fine, though the whipped cream did melt a bit)

Makes 12 bars

cinnamon whipped cream

In a chilled mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/4 t. cinnamon, beat with electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. (Or just use Cool whip and cinnamon)...