Easy Blondies

1Prep the oven and pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly butter and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

2Prep the butter: Melt the butter or make browned butter. To make browned butter, add the butter to a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, continuously swirl it around the pan. It will melt, get a little foamy, and finally turn golden brown. Remove it from the heat when the butter is light brown and smells nutty.

3Make the batter: Whisk the warm butter into the brown sugar until blended. The mixture will look greasy and gritty. Set aside for a few minutes to cool. When the sugar and butter mixture is warm, not hot, add the egg, vanilla, almond extract (optional), and salt. Stir until smooth and ever so slightly lighter in color.

4Add the flour: Add the flour in two additions, gently folding it into the batter after each addition until you no longer see streaks of flour.

5Add the mix-ins: Stir in the chocolate chips and any additional add-ins like nuts or dried fruit.

6Bake blondies: Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. It just covers the bottom of the pan. The batter is very thick, so gently pressing the batter into the corners helps. Bake until the edges look dry and the middle looks shiny and slightly underbaked, 20 to 30 minutes.

7Cool and cut: Cool to room temperature before removing from the pan, allowing them to set in the middle. Cut into 16 squares. Don’t be surprised if the blondies have not risen much (they should be about 1/2-inch thick). These are supposed to be dense, rich, and a little fudgy.