Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. If you’re looking to celebrate the day of love in a sweet way, I’ve got you covered with these Valentine’s Day Blondies.

Blondies don’t exactly scream Valentine’s Day dessert. They are far from the super chocolatey treats that the holiday is associated with. However, these blondies are worth the exception and might have you convinced otherwise.

Valentine’s Day Blondies

These Valentine’s Day blondies use the same base as my summer blondies with white chocolate chips and cherries. Well, almost the same base. Smart me did not decide to check out if I had all of the ingredients and I found myself short a bit of brown sugar right after I started melting the butter.

With the butter already browning, there wasn’t much turning back and I quickly found a solution. Thanks to some quick googling “brown sugar substitute,” I realized coconut sugar would be an easy 1:1 swap. I used what I had of the brown sugar and added coconut sugar in for the rest, along with an additional egg yolk to even out the lack of moisture with the reduction in brown sugar.

The swap worked out great and maybe even better than the original? I’ll have to give it a try and swap out all of the brown sugar next time to see how the flavors compare. Keep you posted on that one!

Valentine’s Day Candy

Valentine’s Day is all about chocolate, so it only made sense to use seasonal candies for these blondies. To make them extra special for the occasion, I used the Valentine’s Day M&Ms. They are the same as typical M&Ms, but with seasonal colors. The pinks, reds, and whites really pop in the blondies and quickly turn the treat festive.

If you can’t find seasonal M&Ms or you’re just reading this in the middle of the summer when Valentine’s Day M&Ms are not super accessible, just go with normal M&Ms. If you really want to try out different flavors, check out the different types of M&Ms. I’m sure peanut would be delicious or even the caramel. Definitely something to add to the list to try out.

Check out the full recipe below and have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day Blondies

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar

• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup flour

• 1/4 cup cake flour

• 1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips

• 1 10oz bag of M&Ms

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare and line an 8-inch square baking dish with grease and parchment. Set to the side.
• Brown the butter. In a small saucepan on medium-low heat, melt the butter. The butter should foam, turn clear, and then brown. Make sure to continuously stir the butter while it is melting. The process should take 5-6 minutes depending on the heat. Make sure to watch the butter towards the end as it can burn very quickly. The butter is done when there is a nutty aroma to it. Once butter is browned, take off the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Let it cool while you prepare the batter.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the brown sugar, coconut sugar, egg, yolk, vanilla, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the butter once it has cooled down. Fold in the flours. Once the mixture comes together, fold in the white chocolate chips and the M&Ms. Leave out a handful of M&Ms and some white chocolate chips to sprinkle on top.
• Using a spatula, add the blondie batter to the pan. The dough will be very thick and sticky, don’t worry. You can use a spatula to pat it down flat or some parchment paper to flatten it down. Once the batter is flat, add the remaining M&Ms and white chocolate chips on top.
  
• Bake for 35-45 minutes. The blondies will crinkle on the top when ready.
• Let the blondies cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The blondies should last about a week if using fresh cherries.

Notes

• If you don’t have coconut sugar just use all brown sugar instead (1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar) and remove the egg yolk.
• If you don’t have cake flour, use AP flour.

Did you make this recipe?! Let me know and share it on Instagram. Tag @crispcrumble and use the hashtag #crispandcrumble.