White Chocolate Brownies

White Chocolate Brownies - made June 10, 2018 from Rosie's Bakery's Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book

White chocolate lovers, you don't usually get much love on my blog since I'm not a big fan of white chocolate but this one's for you. Not only are there chunks of white chocolate in this brownie but also white chocolate melted and incorporated into the batter.

The melted white chocolate adds a smoothness to the batter and a richness to the baked brownie. It's not an overly strong white chocolate taste but prevalent nonetheless. If you want to go completely purist, you can substitute even more white chocolate for the semisweet chocolate chunks.

I liked this brownie more than I expected, mostly because I liked the "fudginess" of the texture, similar to a traditional fudge brownie. As always, it's important to use quality chocolate, especially when it comes to white chocolate. Imitation will not do. Cheap white chocolate is chalky with a crumbly mouthfeel and weird aftertaste. The good stuff is creamy and actually tastes like white chocolate. Not to be confused with real chocolate but we'll let that go.

I omitted the macadamia nuts in this because of my aversion to nuts in blondies but if you don't mind the nuts softening during baking, feel free to add them for the traditional white chocolate macadamia flavor profile.

12 ounces white chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Chop 6 ounces of the white chocolate very fine and set aside. Chop remaining 6 ounces white chocolate and bittersweet chocolate coarsely; set aside.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.
4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat; do not allow to bubble. Remove pan from heat and add the finely chopped white chocolate but do not stir. Set aside.
5. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
6. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter mixture and mix to combine, about 115 to 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
7. Add the flour mixture on low speed and mix just until combined. Fold in white chocolate and bittersweet chocolate (and macadamia nuts, if using) with a rubber spatula. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 30 to 35 minutes.
8. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.