White Chocolate Brownies

As far as chocolate goes, white chocolate gets a pretty bad rep. Upon asking friends/family what their favorite sort of chocolate is — these are the sorts of questions that keep me up at night, along with Pancakes, Waffles, or French Toast?! and Best Pasta Shape? — the answer is rarely if ever white chocolate. “Oh no, definitely not white chocolate!” is a response I’ve heard one too many times, usually accompanied by a wrinkle of the nose. It’s for kids; it’s too sweet; It’s not really chocolate.

(This is technically true: white chocolate is made of cocoa butter blended with sugar, milk and vanilla, and lacks the cocoa or chocolate liquor incorporated into dark or milk chocolate. Minor details).

Ok: white chocolate is not as beloved as milk chocolate, in all its timeless splendor. It definitely lacks the depth, maturity, and antioxidants of dark chocolate — indeed, white chocolate isn’t meant for those more grown-up tastebuds that relish things like black coffee, campari, radicchio, and other more sophisticated (bitter) flavors. But what if I don’t want intensity or complexity in my piece of chocolate?! What if I simply want something unabashedly saccharine and straightforward? Since when was sweet synonymous with bad? Have we really become so snobby? Also: good quality white chocolate, brands like Valhrona and Callebaut, are just as delicious as their darker counterparts. White chocolate plays well with others, too, pairing wonderfully with raspberries, blueberries, coffee, macadamia nuts, and pistachios, in my experience.

I stumbled across these White Chocolate Brownies on a Google-search quest for new bar cookie recipes for the blog (there’s nothing I love more than a good blog-brainstorm). They claimed to possess the crisp, crackly surface and fudgey texture of a classic brownie, and I was instantly drawn in, intrigued. For starters, it was a purely white-chocolate driven dessert, which are hard to come by. Plus: could the properties of a fudge brownie really be achieved using all white chocolate?

The answer, it turns out, is yes: these were magnificent.

First things first: true to form, these White Chocolate Brownies are on the sweeter side. However: this sweetness is both balanced and enhanced by a generous pinch of salt (a whole teaspoon!) which makes them all the more moreish, in that sweet-salty way. They’re thick and chewy with a buttery toastiness; the surface is crackly and shattery, and the texture is pure fudge. Deliciousness aside, they boast a snowy, ivory color hue which is extra pretty. I loved, loved, loved these, and I wasn’t the only one: these beauties disappeared in a blink of an eye at an end-of-summer-barbecue. These may just have you reevaluating your dark, milk, and white chocolate line-up. Indeed, one bite made all thoughts of dark or milk chocolate vanish from my mind.

Plus: we’re in back to school mode, and with back to school comes the lunchbox, the perfect vechicle for a portable treat to round off your (kid’s) peanut butter sandwich, apple, and carrot sticks. Mine was always a blondie, but whose to say that your go-to can’t be a White Chocolate Brownie?

A couple of notes: I’d like to make these and add a bit of coffee next time (I love the coffee/white chocolate combination) or even some crushed oreos for a cookies and cream effect. Adding in raspberries might be interesting too. These tend to brown quite quickly on the top, so be ready to cover the pan with aluminum foil if you see this happening. I feel like these could also be used in place of the fudge brownies here in these ice cream sandwiches; strawberry ice cream would be lovely with the white chocolate brownie.

Looking for other brownies and bars? Click here.

WHITE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Makes 16 brownies. Recipe from Sugar Spun Run.

Ingredients:
10 Tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter cut into pieces
6 ounces (170 grams) white chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chunks

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 325F (165C) and line a 9×9” baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Combine butter and chopped white chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.

2.) In a separate bowl, combine sugar, eggs, and egg yolk and whisk vigorously until pale yellow (about 30 seconds, you can also use an electric mixer on high speed for about 15 seconds). Stir in vanilla extract then add chocolate mixture and stir until completely combined.

3.) In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir into white chocolate mixture until thoroughly combined. Use a spatula to fold in chocolate chips and spread evenly into prepared baking pan.

4.) Transfer to center rack of 325F (165C) oven and bake for 42 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.