We’re here. We made it! The second official edition of my newsletter. I sort of want to make this a Mr. Rogers vibe and tell you that I am so glad to be with you, and that if you’re reading this it means you care enough about me to read some of my writing, and if you care that much about me, I love you so dearly. I won’t do that, though. (Except I will. Thanks for being here.)
A PSA: The last few weeks (months? Years? Centuries?) have been somewhat tumultuous for Americans especially. As much as I am fighting for change with gun reform and calling my senators and still trying to always love my neighbors - all my neighbors - I am still relentlessly trying to scrape together any morsel of hope that I can. That being said, I want to establish myself a bit more for this endeavor and let it be known that my intention is to keep this as somewhat of an escape for us all. Please know that every time I write this and bake alongside it, I am acutely aware of the constant frenzy of news and tragedies that never seem to stop. I am here, writing and baking and trying to exist, so that we can maybe get a sigh of relief from…. everything. I just feel it is important that you know where my heart is, where it always is, when I write this silly little newsletter.
Now that I have made my peace, let’s move on! Since one of my goals of this newsletter is to foster connection, I decided that each time I bake something, I will intentionally share it with someone. These gooey blondies got to be enjoyed by a few different people - my husband, one of my best friends, and my coworkers, who I probably love more than is normally acceptable. Whenever I share my bakes, I often, and repeatedly, ask something along the lines of, “Is it good?”, and it may be partly because I want to make sure that people enjoy my baking and that I did not, in fact, feed them baked garbage. But a bigger part of me wants to ask, “Do you feel my love for you?”, and every nod and praise of my bake is an easier way for everyone to say, “I do”.
If you baked alongside me, I would love to hear if you got to share these with anyone, or what you loved about them. These were one of the first recipes by Claire Saffitz that I attempted and they were part of what made me fall in love with her recipes - attainable, delicious, and easily shareable. Mine almost never (read: have actually never) look like the photos on the recipe, but they’re delicious nonetheless.
For our next bake, I am going to make Dorie Greenspan’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I couldn’t find her exact recipe on a shareable link, so to respect the recipes that Dorie wants to keep behind the paywall of her cookbook, I found this similar recipe on Food52’s website that would be a good replacement: you can find it here. (Full disclosure, I have an s-word ton of oats I need to get rid of, and cookies are the best use for oats.)
Okay, friends. I can’t wait to hear how you liked the blondies and how you have been folding the good in gently. I’ll see you back here on Monday, June 20.
Gooey Brown Butter Pecan Blondies of My Dreams
Okay these look sooooo delicious. I am v v tempted to try a gluten free version so I can enjoy them with my eyeballs *and* my tastebuds 😍🤤
Haven’t baked yet but I love all this very much!