The recent tragedy that’s been all over the news has served as a reminder that no matter how busy my life is, and how many different directions I’m being pulled in, that my almost six-year old daughter is my greatest gift and to savor and appreciate each day I have with her even more, stop and smell more roses, give more hugs, and eat more blondies. I made these for my pink-loving princess and wanted her eyes to light up upon seeing them. I combined two of my favorite flavors, Funfetti and yellow cake batter, for these sweet and easy blondies, complete with semi-sweet and white chocolate chips, and plenty of sprinkles. Sprinkles put the fun in Funfetti.
Many cake batter-flavored recipes that I read online use cake mix, which isn’t a shocker since cake mix is a logical ingredient in cake batter. However, I wanted to create cake batter-flavored without using a mix, just because I like to complicate things. The from-scratch batter comes together quicker than if cake mix was used, can be mixed by hand in less than five minutes, and the blondies are ready from start to finish in thirty minutes. So take that, boxed mix.
Make the batter by melting one stick of butter, add brown and granulated sugars, an egg, and a healthy dose of vanilla. There’s a higher ratio of brown to granulated sugar, which keeps the blondies extra moist and they stay moist for days. Brown sugar draws in moisture from the air as time passes, and helps to keep baked goods soft over time. Unlike my other blondie recipes that strictly rely on brown sugar, a bit of granulated is used here to provide more authentic yellow cake flavor. The secret ingredient that provides that telltale yellow birthday cake meets Funfetti flavor quality comes from the vanilla. If you think I’m going to say I used high-end, expensive, real vanilla extract, you’re wrong. This is a rare situation in baking where imitation vanilla extract, specifically clear, is preferred to real.
I learned from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook that imitation vanilla provides a nostalgic, classic Americana flavor. Taking a whiff of clear imitation vanilla is akin to burying my nose in a box of yellow or Funfetti cake mix crossed with a white grocery-store bakery cake, complete with inch-thick white frosting. I grew up with white sheetcake birthday cakes and clear imitation vanilla brings me right back to 1986, the roller rink, blowing out my birthday candles, and it’s perfect in the blondies. Clear imitation vanilla is typically sold next to real vanilla extract for a fraction of the cost. Real vanilla extract may of course be used here, but for $2.99 clear imitation is fun to keep around, especially for white cakes or white frosting. It lends a comforting flavor profile and doesn’t impart any twinges of brown in frosting I want to keep bright white. This reminds me of the butter extract discussion.
After adding one tablespoon of vanilla, flour, white and semi-sweet chips, or mix-and-match as desired because there’s no wrong way to do Funfetti, I added a heaping quarter cup of sprinkles to the batter. After pouring the batter into the pan, I sprinkled with an additional tablespoon, mostly for a visual pop of color. Being skimpy with sprinkles is never good. Bake the blondies just until the top has set, taking care not to overbake. They’re meant to be soft and tender.
They’re moist, dense, and taste like Funfetti birthday-cake cake batter. The vanilla adds a special touch and gives the blondies that luscious cake-batter scent. They remind me of all the beaters coated in cake batter I ever licked. The chocolate chips and white chocolate chips add just enough chocolate and their presence is nice and noted, but they don’t overpower the more delicate cake batter flavor. And having little bits of sprinkles between my teeth in each bite adds welcome texture to the soft, doughy blondies. My job was done when I saw the smile on my daughter’s face as she bit into this.
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I wrote a post called 15 Things to Do with Cake Mix (and none of them actually make a cake) – It’s one of my most popular pins on Pinterest
Do you like Funfetti flavors? Sprinkles? Cake batter-flavored treats? Who can say no to any of those things and I couldn’t resist surprising my little girl with these. Thanks for the Heilala Gourmet Vanilla Giveaway and the Handmade Luxury Chocolate Giveaway entries
