Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze

A beautiful sunset, toes in the sand and a Piña Colada in your hand. Sounds like paradise doesn't it? Unfortunately it doesn't happen all that often, even though I live in Hawaii.  So I came up with the next best thing - Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze.

What is a blondie you may ask?  Well, I used to think that they were supposed to be like brownies without the chocolate, but they really are more cake-like and not dense at all.  There are many recipes for blondies but I loosely based mine on a recipe by Martha Stewart, and then gave it a pineapple and coconut twist.

As the song says, "If you like piña colada's", then you will love these blondies. Well, that is not quite the lyrics but after one bite you will want to change them just like I did. I loved the crushed pineapple in them because it kind of melted into the cake, and the glaze on top is pure coconut goodness. This recipe will make 9 large blondies, and can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Blondies ~

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups crushed pineapple, well drained (reserve the liquid)
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 tablespoons Malibu® coconut rum or coconut essence 
• ¼ cup pineapple juice (from reserved liquid)

Glaze ~

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)
• 2 tablespoons Malibu® coconut rum or coconut essence
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Preparation
Blondies ~

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang, and butter lining (excluding overhang).
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
4. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, Malibu, coconut, and pineapple juice, and mix until combined.
6. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mix for 1 minute then stop the mixer and scrape the paddle and sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Continue to mix for another minute, or until well combined.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan spreading evenly with a spatula.
8. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into blondies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 40 to 45 minutes.
9. Cool slightly in pan for about 15 minutes, and then lift out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
10. Whilst blondies are cooling toast coconut  - preheat oven to 350℉, place coconut on a tray lined with parchment and put in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes until golden brown - keep an eye on it as it can burn quickly.

Glaze ~

1. Place sifted powdered sugar in a bowl, add cream of coconut, Malibu, and water and stir until smooth.
2. Once blondies are cool, gently spoon glaze over the top allowing it to run over the sides.
3. Sprinkle blondies with toasted coconut and cut into bars.

Recipe by All That's Left Are The Crumbs©

To Try Tuesday - Banana-Cappuccino Chip Blondies

 

I love to keep up with what my blogger friends are up to.  It never ceases to amaze me what new recipes they have imagined into reality, or the friendly advice they have for those of us who are just starting out. Usually this is done via my Blogger Reading List, Foodbuzz, email subscriptions, and Facebook.   One recipe that caught my attention recently was Banana Cinnamon Chip Blondies on Blog is the New Black.  At some time I had also printed out a Blondie recipe from Smitten Kitchen, so I decided to blend the two of them together.




When I am making brownies, or blondies in this case, I really like to have big, fat, chewy-gooey squares as an end result. I really don't like the flat kind of brownies that are the result of a single batch being cooked in a rectangular pan, so I usually make a double batch and bake them in a square tin.





For some reason I always thought that Blondies were bar cookies that were made with white chocolate, and that using milk (or dark) chocolate would make them Brownies instead.   After reading the post by Liz (Blog is the New Black) I learned that Blondies actually have brown sugar, rather than chocolate, as the  main ingredient. 


Somewhere along the line I grabbed a bag of cappuccino chips rather than cinnamon chips, but I loved the result so much that I am glad that I made this mistake.  I nibbled on some of the crumbs as I was cutting them up and getting them ready for their close-up and the flavor is just amazing.  I had to restrain myself for now but, later tonight, these will be enjoyed with a cup of Ka'u coffee for sure.  Then the rest will be packaged up for my daughters to take to school tomorrow and share with their friends.

Edit - Thank you so much for your lovely comments.  For those who have been asking about the cappuccino chips I purchased them online from King Arthur Flour.  I am a big fan of this store, not only do they have amazing products, but their customer service is outstanding.  I used the regular-sized chips in my version, but they also sell a mini size. 



Banana-Cappuccino Chip Blondies

(Printer Friendly Version)

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons butter, melted (2 sticks)
• 2 cup brown sugar
• 2 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups mashed banana (about 4 medium bananas)
• 1 ½ cups cappuccino chips
• 2 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preparation

1. Butter an 8×8 pan.
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and beat until smooth. 
3. Add eggs and then vanilla, and mix well. 
4. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and stir in to the mixture. 
5. Mix in banana and cappuccino chips.
6. Pour into prepared pan. 
7. Sprinkle sugar evenly over the top.
8. Bake at 350°F approximately 45 minutes, or until set in the middle.
9. Cool on rack before cutting into squares.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Blog is the New Black.