Guest Recipe: Tom's Mother’s Day Lemon and White Chocolate Blondies

These lemon and white chocolate blondies are rich and squidgy with a zing of citrus. They're the perfect treat for children to make under the helpful close supervision of a grown-up as the recipe throws all the ingredients together in one bowl.

And at a time when lockdowns keep some of us apart from our mothers, by baking in a disposal 32x20cm foil baking tray and packing up carefully, older children can still whip up a batch to send through the post.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25-28 minutes
• Total Time: 40-43 minutes

Serves: 16

Category: Dessert,Cakes,Biscuits & Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 unwaxed lemons (juice and zest)
• 150g white granulated sugar
• 170g unsalted butter
• 200g golden granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 pinch salt flakes
• 250g plain white flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 200g bar white chocolate

To decorate

• 50g white chocolate
• Dusting icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Grease and line a 32x20cm baking tin, leaving an overhang of paper to lift the blondies out later (or just grease a disposable foil tray).
2. Put the 150g white granulated sugar into a pan with the zest and juice of the 2 lemons. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved before turning up the temperature and boiling for around 5 mins until you have a light syrup.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 170g of unsalted butter until it melts.
4. Pour the syrup into a mixing bowl and allow to cool for 5-10 mins.
5. Using an electric whisk, whisk the 200g of golden granulated sugar into the syrup.
6. Crack in the two eggs and beat until incorporated. Add a pinch of salt and lemon extract. 
7. Sift in the flour and baking powder together in three batches. Whisk until the flour is just incorporated. 
8. Roughly chop the bar of chocolate up. You want a variety of sizes (sandy flakes and larger chunks) but the bigger pieces should be no larger than a fingernail.
9. Fold the chocolate through the batter before pouring it into the prepared tray and smoothing it out with a spatula. 
10. Pop into the oven and bake for 25-28 minutes.
11. The mixture should be golden on top with the hint of fudgy wobble in the centre. Allow to cool in the tray before lifting out using the paper overhang and placing it on a wire rack.
12. To decorate, melt 50g of white chocolate and pop it into a cone made of baking paper.
13. Snip a small hole in the point of the cone and drizzle the chocolate back and forward in diagonal lines across the blondies. 
14. Finally, dust with a little icing sugar before cutting up into 8 square bars before halving diagonally into 16 triangles. Store in an airtight tin.

Tom Frizell-Shackley is a food writer, recipe developer and freelance PR consultant, based in the North of England. He lives with his partner, son and three spaniels. Since 2019, he has published recipes and kitchen tips for his Kitchen Notes food blog.