Gingerbread Blondies

Blondies have a reputation of being chewy, moist, and brown-sugary, and these Gingerbread Blondies are no exception. These soft bars are simple but offer that unique, spicy flavor of the holidays. Pecans lend a pleasant texture and dark brown sugar contributes the slight flavor of molasses. Make your life a little easier by ditching the whole rolling-out-individual-cookies situation and bringing these to your next holiday gathering. We love that these aren’t overly sweet, but if you feel you need to sweeten these up a little more, just drizzle them with a simple icing of powdered sugar, water, and a little cinnamon.

This batter is thick and fragrant. We used “pecan cookie pieces” (Walmart). Even people who don’t love nuts in their desserts won’t mind these tiny bits:

These blondies have a true gingerbread presence.

While many think that the first known gingerbread recipe came out of Greece, Germany might come to mind as the birthplace of gingerbread, and it seems that it was the birthplace of the gingerbread house (think Hansel and Gretel). So, let’s learn a few thing about Germany and her people:

• Germans dang near worship soccer.
• College is free in Germany.
• Most businesses are closed on Sundays.

So soft. So chewy.

Have your kids help you dump ingredients for mixing. As you enjoy these blondies with those you love, teach them a few things about ginger:

• Ginger can really help keep you from feeling too gassy (tee-hee-hee).
• Ginger can help your stomach feel settled if you feel nauseous.
• Ginger is thought to help reduce inflammation.

Adapted ever so slightly from: Gingerbread Blondies #21