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A recipe for white chocolate blondie bites with oranges and pecans. This blondie bite recipe offs a twist on the classic brownie bite.
Why Make These White Chocolate Blondie Bites?
Did you know that National Blonde Brownie Day is an actual holiday? (There really is a day for everything!) Celebrated each year on the 22nd of January, National Blonde Brownie Day marks a day to bake and enjoy blondies, a brown sugar or molasses-based alternative to traditional chocolate brownies.
There are lots of recipes for brownies and brownie bites, but for some reason blonde brownies don’t receive quite as much love. So, I created this recipe to give blondies the attention they so rightly deserve.
These white chocolate blondie bites feature a brown sugar base, with just enough orange zest and chopped pecans to set them apart from a typical blondie. To finish, I’ve enrobed each of these “two bite” blondies in white chocolate.
Blondie Bite Ingredients
To make this blondie bite recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Unsalted Butter – No need to soften, as you’ll melt the butter to make the blondie batter.
- Dark Brown Sugar – I prefer the caramel and molasses notes of dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar will work, too. Do not substitute white sugar.
- Egg – You’ll need 1 large egg, lightly beaten.
- Whole Milk – Or semi-skimmed. I have not tested this recipe with plant milk.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – Vanilla plays a key role in the flavor of the blondie batter, so I strongly recommend using vanilla bean paste (or the scrapings of 1 vanilla pod) rather than extract.
- All Purpose Flour – Or plain flour, in the UK.
- Baking Powder – A small amount of baking powder gives the blondie batter its lift.
- Fine Sea Salt – Fine sea salt (or kosher salt) cuts the sweetness of the brown sugar and white chocolate.
- Pecans – You can substitute chopped walnuts or pistachios in place of the pecans, or skip the nuts altogether.
- Orange – For flavoring the batter. If you don’t have oranges on hand, substitute lemon or lime zest instead.
- White Chocolate – This recipe requires 50 grams of chopped white chocolate (or white chocolate chips) for the batter, plus more good-quality couverture for tempering and enrobing.
Choosing Your Chocolate
For the baked blondie component of this recipe, just about any white chocolate will work. You can use a chocolate bar (such as Lindt) chopped into chunks, or chocolate chips. (I’d suggest going with a higher-end brand such as Ghirardelli, but even baking chocolate chips will work in a pinch!) You can also chop up some of the couverture chocolate you’ll use for enrobing. Brownies and blondies are the perfect way to use up odds and ends, or bits of chocolate left over from previous tempering projects. Even a mix of brands or cocoa percentages will work just fine in your blondie batter.
For enrobing the blondie bites, choose a high-quality couverture, such as Callebaut or Valrhona. (I used Callebaut W2 28% for this particular batch). If you’d like to support a smaller chocolate distributor, I also really like this Belgian white chocolate couverture from Santa Barbara Chocolate. The one thing you do not want to use for enrobing is white chocolate chips; they won’t temper properly.
Some Notes on Tempering
Tempering is the process of heating and cooling chocolate couverture to specific temperatures, producing chocolate with a signature shine and snap. There are numerous methods for tempering chocolate, including seeding, tabling, and direct tempering. Tempering requires time and patience; it can be complex and difficult to master.
There are numerous online chocolate tempering tutorials available, such as this one by Callebaut, and this one by Valhrona. It’s also worth checking to see if your chocolate manufacturer or supplier has a temperature guide available for their particular product.
If you aren’t familiar with tempering, you can enrobe your blondie bites in white coating chocolate instead. Unlike couverture, coating chocolate is ready to go straight out of the bag, no tempering required. There are a variety of brands available on Amazon, and Santa Barbara Chocolate also makes a white compound confectionery coating.
Recommended Tools and Equipment
An enrobing fork isn’t an absolute requirement for this recipe, but it will make dipping the bites easier, and will allow you to create decorations in the chocolate. If you don’t have an enrobing fork, use a regular dinner fork instead.
If you’re planning to temper the chocolate, a digital or infrared thermometer is an absolute must. My go-to for tempering is a gun-style infrared thermometer. Always stir vigorously before taking a temperature reading with a laser thermometer. You want to take the temperature of the entire chocolate mass, rather than the top of the bowl.
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
Store blondie bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Other blondie recipes you might enjoy:
Salted Caramel Blondies
Cherry Almond Blondies
Easter Blondies with Mini Eggs
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
PrintWhite Chocolate Blondie Bites
A recipe for white chocolate blondie bites with oranges and pecans. This blondie bite recipe offs a twist on the classic brownie bite.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes (+ tempering/enrobing time)
- Yield: 49 bites (about 1 in / 2.5 cm square) 1x
- Category: Chocolate
- Method: Oven + Stovetop
- Cuisine: Sweets
Ingredients
Blondies:
60 grams unsalted butter, melted (4 tablespoons)
125 grams dark brown sugar (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
30 milliliters whole milk (2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
110 grams all purpose flour (about 4 ounces; 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
25 grams chopped pecans (2 tablespoons)
Zest of one orange, zested on a Microplane
50 grams white chocolate chips (1 3/4 ounces; about 1/4 cup)
500 grams good-quality white chocolate couverture, (18 ounces), for tempering and enrobing
Pecans or candied orange peel, to garnish
Instructions
Blondies:
Preheat oven to 350° F / 175° C. Line an 8×8-inch square tin with parchment, allowing a 1-inch overhang on all sides. Mist lightly with cooking spray.
Add the melted butter and brown sugar to a large mixing bowl and whisk until well-combined. Whisk in the egg, milk, and vanilla bean paste.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk flour mixture into the wet ingredients. If batter seems dry, add one additional tablespoon of milk.
With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the chopped pecans and orange zest into the batter, followed by the white chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow blondies to cool completely in the tin before proceeding to the next step.
Line a tray with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
Melt white chocolate couverture over a double boiler or bain marie. Set aside to cool while cutting the blondies.
Turn cooled blondie slab out onto a chopping board. With a sharp chef’s knife, trim the edges, then cut into 7 x 7 rows. When finished, you’ll have 49 1-inch blondie squares. Discard any crumbled or broken squares, or save for snacking.
Arrange blondie squares on prepared tray. Freeze until ready to enrobe.
Temper** white chocolate via your preferred method, or melt white chocolate candy melts according to package directions.
Remove blondie squares from the freezer and, working quickly, enrobe completely in tempered chocolate. Return enrobed blondies to tray and decorate with an enrobing fork, or garnish as desired with toasted pecans or bits of candied orange peel.
Store blondie bites in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
*If you’re in a hurry, place the tin in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
**If you aren’t familiar with tempering chocolate, or just don’t have the time to mess with it, you might consider skipping it here. See the post above for ways to make this recipe without tempering.