As I settle on to my couch to type up this blog post, it occurs to me that it’s one of the few moments of calm that I’ve had in the past few weeks. Lately my workload has been multiplied by some invisible, end-of-the-year force, making for a storm of fussy webinars, fastidious excel sheets, yearly trainings I’ve saved especially for the last hour, and too many hours in front of my laptop. I’ve been preparing for a move into a new apartment, plus prepping for a trip to the U.S, meaning One negative covid-test, Two Passenger Locator Forms, Three pieces of luggage, and a partridge in a pear tree, among other things.

And yet: here I am, writing this post, because even a To Do List a mile long couldn’t keep me from telling you about these Gingerbread Blondies — a recipe that made all my holiday baking dreams come true.

First things first: the Blondie can best be described as the sweeter, butterscotch version of the classic brownie, a brown sugar-centric bar cookie studded with chocolate chips (pecans/walnuts are also welcome additions). The Blondie and I go way back; my mom baked them for us kids growing up (recipe here!) and there was nothing better than finding a pan of them cooling on the kitchen counter after a long day at school. A batch of Blondies also made me the most popular kid in the cafeteria, where my envious classmates would hopefully, but unsuccessfully attempt to trade their granola bars (as if) for one.

So! Hectic schedule or not, the idea of a Christmas-spiced blondie crept into my head, settling somewhere between the mental to-do list of Pay the Bills and Order Dad’s Christmas gift. With a little testing and tweaking, I landed on this recipe, one that makes for soft, fudge-y blondies, aka Blondies in their Christmas Best, Blondies at the North Pole, or Blondies by Santa. They are warming, spicy, and toasty — did you expect anything less from the joined forces of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves? — and they made my apartment smell like December 25th itself. The lucky friend who taste-tested these described them as moreish (a quality that can be attributed to a good amount of butter and a generous pinch of salt) and indeed they disappeared off the plate in the blink of an eye, no joke. I loved these — like I said, it wouldn’t have been right not to share them— and if you too are feeling a bit overwhelmed this time of year, listen up! The true magic of these Gingerbread Blondies is that they come together in one bowl, and require no portioning or rolling out of dough, no cookie cutters, and no decorations. Perfect for those of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed these days, no?

A couple of notes: Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. You can omit the allspice or cloves if you don’t have them or want a less spicy bar — these were my additions to the recipe, so I imagine that they would be perfectly good without. The recipe as written also provided a recipe for a glaze to decorate the bars with (1 cup sifted powdered sugar + a few tablespoons milk) but I chose just to go for the powdered sugar. Do as you see fit!

Looking for other bar and brownie recipes? Click here.
Want more gingerbread-centric recipes? I’ve got you covered.

GINGERBREAD BLONDIES

Recipe barely adapted from Pretty Simple Sweet. Makes 16 blondies.

Ingredients:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Powdered sugar, to decorate

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Butter a 9×9-inch pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving sp,e overhang on the sides. In a mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment (or just using electric beaters), beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla, and beat until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, and beat until just combined.

Spread the resulting gingerbread dough into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the top is slightly firm to touch and a toothpick inserted into centre comes out with a few moist crumbs — don’t overbake these, we’re going for soft and fudgy.

Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting in to squares. Serve at room temperature, preferably with a mug of this hot chocolate here.