How to Make Lemon-Blueberry Blondies

Can we talk about blondies for a minute? You know, the brown sugary, buttery, perfectly dense and chewy bars of gold? The ones that are ever tragically underrated when compared to their more widely popular, fudgy cousin, the brownie??

Yeah, they're actually one of my all-time favorite desserts. They're quick/simple to throw together, their ingredient list is incredibly basic (so I always have what I need to make them), they're way easy to customize (as you will soon see), and they often take people by surprise in the best way possible. Unassuming though they may appear, for anyone who doesn't often experience a homemade blondie, they sure are an eye-opening treat.

I especially love turning to blondies when I need to bring something for any fashion of laid-back get-together — potlucks, picnics, cookouts, and the like. As I've already mentioned, blondies are easy to make, but they're also remarkably easy to transport, easy to divide and share with a group, and they're generally A-OK hanging out at room temperature or even outdoors for a good while. Oh, and did I mention that everybody loves them? (Even those who would have you believe that brownies are the only bar cookie-style dessert that matters.)

Given my adoration for blondies, I tend to play around with mix-ins and custom flavor profiles whenever I make a batch. And that's what brings us to these Lemon-Blueberry Blondies. I needed a blondie that shouted summer, and folks, do these ever.

Get the Recipe: Lemon-Blueberry Blondie Bars

This is the dessert I plan to tote along to poolside hangouts, reunions with friends, porch parties, and even a road trip or two over the coming weeks. And in the case that you may want to as well, here are a few things worth noting about these bright, berry-studded bars.

The White Chocolate

Though it's not a traditional element in most blondie recipes, white chocolate provides an extra touch of luxury. So, you're just going to melt a couple of ounces of white chocolate in with your butter — it couldn't be easier, but the impact is delicious. White chocolate distributed throughout the batter gives these blondies a subtle, extra-buttery richness, and it's worth chopping a little bit of chocolate for. I recommend using a white chocolate baking bar and coarsely chopping two ounces with a sharp knife; however, you could also weigh out two ounces of white chocolate chips if that's what you already have on hand.

The Lemon Zest

Okay, most people have the tools and culinary experience they need to juice a lemon, no problem. But when it comes to zesting… I can't tell you the number of people I know who have admitted to simply "leaving it out" when a recipe calls for fresh citrus zest. You guys — stop doing that. The zest contains all of the citrusy essential oils that lend incredible flavor and aroma that juice alone cannot accomplish. In fact, if I had to choose just one, between lemon juice or zest, I'd definitely choose zest every time.

Now here's the thing, with the wrong tool in hand, I completely understand why a cook might write zesting off as too much of a pain to be worth it. (I have used plenty of awful graters that render my futile zesting efforts practically useless.) But with the right tool in hand, zesting citrus — not to mention grating garlic cloves, fresh ginger root, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, and more — will be as effortless and casual as boiling a pot of water.

Microplane® Rasp Grater

I'm not one to normally insist on buying the "name brand" equipment, but in this one particular instance, I'm going to. Please invest the $14.95 required to own a Microplane. You will never regret it. And if you ever do (but you won't), I would personally reimburse you. That is how confident I am that this handheld zester/grater will forever change your kitchen life for the better.

The Thickness

I can one hundred percent envision a first-time blondie baker scraping this batter into their pan and freaking out at how thick it is. So I'd like to go ahead and acknowledge that. First, calm down — you've done nothing wrong. Blondie batter tends to be on the (very) thick side, and to account for some of the moist ingredients being stirred in, I used more flour in this recipe than I typically would in my blondies, so they're going to bake up nice and thick too! You'll just need a good silicone spatula to smooth the blondie batter into an even layer in the pan. This part may take a couple of minutes, but it's kind of like raking a zen garden — take a breath and enjoy the process.

The Glaze

The simple lemon glaze that accompanies these blondies is entirely optional, but makes for a lovely finishing touch. And because I intended it as just that, a finishing touch, the recipe does not yield a bucket of glaze. However, if you happen to be a real lemon head and want to amp up the lemon presence as much as possible, you can definitely double the glaze quantities to provide for more of a heavy shower than a drizzle.

You could also even add some lemon zest to the equation now that you have your handy Microplane on deck. Because as I always say, when life hands you lemons, you better use the whole fruit.

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