I’m very attracted to mini eggs every Easter, especially the ones with tiny speckles on them. They are pleasingly pastel and consistent, they seem to have not changed in any way since my childhood. They have the same mild, milky chocolate, the same crispy-shattery exterior, then same mild, gentle colours. I often think of putting them in cookies or bars, but I have held back because it seemed almost too frivolous. But it isn’t too frivolous, it’s exactly the right amount of frivolous. They are pleasing in the way that rainbow sprinkles are - childishly delightful.
The crispy shells hold up and provide a lovely, crunchy texture contrast. The blondies are dense and gooey - make sure to watch carefully during the bake so you don’t overdo it and wind up with cakey blondies.
These are great for celebrating Easter or for celebrating that adulthood means you can buy candy, crush it up into cookie squares and live your best life.
Note: you can brown the butter if you like. I let mine get the slightest bit golden but not deeply brown. It’s up to you, and the blondies will be delicious no matter how you do the butter.
adapted from smitten kitchen
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup mini chocolate eggs, very roughly chopped
⅓ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
¼ cup chocolate chunks (use dark chocolate if you want a nice contrast to the milk chocolate mini eggs)
¼ cup chocolate-hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
Mix butter and sugar until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt until no streaks remain. Add mini eggs (reserving a few large chunks to press into the top), hazelnuts and chocolate chunks and mix until they are evenly distributed.
Spread the batter evenly in a 8"x 8" pan lined with parchment paper pressing into all the corners. Make a few small depressions with the back of a spoon and blob a bit of choc-hazelnut spread in the indentations. Smoosh and swirl the spread around a little bit to create swirly, blobby Nutella puddles. Dot the blondies with remaining mini eggs and bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes until just set. They should be soft in the center and just crispy around the edges.
