Gingerbread-White Chocolate Blondies

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook. We love it. Bought the cookbook awhile back from Costco around Christmastime when they have a ton of different cookbooks stocked. Hands down we use this recipe the most! Granted we have only tried a handful of them... It's almost like we found this one and stopped looking, ha! 

The first time we made these we were in Portland and it was for a Sunday dessert after dinner with our friends Paul & Wendy. Didn't realize how many the recipe made until after the fact so there were a ton of leftovers and we left them for them to keep. They decided it was too much for them and Paul ended up bringing them into where he and Don worked. People started coming in from other offices asking about them!

Anyhow, they are fabulous year round, but particularly around fall because of the spices. I usually end up cutting them into triangles because the spacing works out better for me. I cut them into rows of 4 and then 6 bars per row then into triangles to get the 4 dozen. They finish up quick because you don't have to form individual balls, just spread it all out and bake it!  

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yoke
• 1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 3/4 cups coarsely chopped best-quality white chocolate (10 oz)

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17" x 12" rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
2. Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape. Makes about 4 dozen.