Viva la Wooden Spoon! - The World's Best Blondies

So first, the wooden spoons. Despite loving cooking I somehow have lived without a wooden spoon in my home for approximately three years. We got a few for our wedding, and over the first few years of our marriage they gradually got manky and we threw them out. And then somehow I never remembered to buy replacements. Finally, this year, I asked for them for Christmas and my awesome Father-in-Law got me a huge set of wooden implements.

And so to inaugurate them.

There is one recipe I would rather bake than anything else in the world. It has never failed me. I literally make it in the saucepan I melt the butter in. It takes five minutes to throw together. There are infinite variations.

May I present: Mark Bittman/Smitten Kitchen Blondies!

Blondies (Source: Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Mark Bittman - not sure what if anything was changed from the original recipe. Check out the link for some awesome variation ideas, and pretty pics! Her blog makes everything look so delicious!!)

-1 stick butter melted
-1 cup brown sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-Pinch of salt
-1 cup all-purpose flour

-Preheat oven to 350
-Grease an 8×8 pan
-Mix melted butter with brown sugar (I melt the butter in a saucepan and just add the sugar directly) until smooth
-Beat in egg (it hasn't scrambled on me to date.) and vanilla
-Stir in salt and flour, then any additions (My favorite is 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup dried cherries - this time had to use pecans instead of cherries)
-Pour into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes or until set in the middle. You want to leave them pretty gooey.

YUMMM!

I swear eventually I will post pictures again . . .