Fennel Blondies
This recipe is basically Christine Moore's. I saw it in her cookbook, "Little Flower Baking," and was very intrigued. I've been think ing about fennel/anise flavored baked goods since I tasted a most divine cookie made with seeds from wild fennel a few months ago. You don't usually see fennel in baked goods recipe here. The result is a rich cake that is like a traditional blondie, and yet in terms of flavoring it is not. The original recipe called for 852g of golden brown sugar. I halved it at first thinking that 852 g (or 4 cups) is just an insane amount of sugar. But I ended up with around 500g. I think I might go with just 450g in the future. The next time I do this, I'll probably reduce the butter by 1 cup and substitute 1 cup of flour with almond meal.
This recipe can be halved and baked in a 9"x 9" square baking tin.
2 1/2 cups (570g) unsalted butter
6 large eggs
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
450 to 500 g golden brown sugar (approximately 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups), depending on sweetness level
1 1/2 tbs vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups (540g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs sea salt (yes, it is one tablespoon. Not a typo).
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed and ground as fine as you can in a mortar and pestle (or just 1 tsp ground fennel seeds)
2 cups (180g) diced fresh fennel
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter.
Measure and sift flour first. Add baking powder and salt and ground fennel seeds to the flour and set aside.
Dice fennel. Set aside.
Making the brown butter: Place butter in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium. Stir and scape any milk solids off bottom of the saucepan with a wooden spoon or like instrument. The butter will first be a lovely golden color. You want to keep at it till it is deeply brown. It will take up to ten minutes. Once the butter comes to a second foam (it will be obvious), watch it carefully and scrape the bottom and sides constantly. Remove from heat once you see brown bits (it goes from brown to black quite quickly, so it is better to err on the lighter brown side than the black side). Set aside.
Whisk eggs in stand mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Decrease speed to low and add both granulated sugar and golden brown sugar. Whisk on medium speed for a minute, and then at medium high for four minutes until the mixture is thick and pale.
Add vanilla and mix on low speed for 15 seconds. Scrape bowl well with rubber spatula. Stream in warm brown butter. Scrape in all the yummy brown butter bits into the batter. Mix on low for about a minute.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just incorporate. Don't over mix. Remove bowl from stand mixer, scrape down the side and fold in the fresh fennel.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for a total of about 50 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean.
This recipe can be halved and baked in a 9"x 9" square baking tin.
2 1/2 cups (570g) unsalted butter
6 large eggs
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
450 to 500 g golden brown sugar (approximately 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups), depending on sweetness level
1 1/2 tbs vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups (540g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs sea salt (yes, it is one tablespoon. Not a typo).
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed and ground as fine as you can in a mortar and pestle (or just 1 tsp ground fennel seeds)
2 cups (180g) diced fresh fennel
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter.
Measure and sift flour first. Add baking powder and salt and ground fennel seeds to the flour and set aside.
Dice fennel. Set aside.
Making the brown butter: Place butter in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium. Stir and scape any milk solids off bottom of the saucepan with a wooden spoon or like instrument. The butter will first be a lovely golden color. You want to keep at it till it is deeply brown. It will take up to ten minutes. Once the butter comes to a second foam (it will be obvious), watch it carefully and scrape the bottom and sides constantly. Remove from heat once you see brown bits (it goes from brown to black quite quickly, so it is better to err on the lighter brown side than the black side). Set aside.
Whisk eggs in stand mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Decrease speed to low and add both granulated sugar and golden brown sugar. Whisk on medium speed for a minute, and then at medium high for four minutes until the mixture is thick and pale.
Add vanilla and mix on low speed for 15 seconds. Scrape bowl well with rubber spatula. Stream in warm brown butter. Scrape in all the yummy brown butter bits into the batter. Mix on low for about a minute.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just incorporate. Don't over mix. Remove bowl from stand mixer, scrape down the side and fold in the fresh fennel.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for a total of about 50 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean.
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